Clemson QB battle won’t be settled in preseason, Dabo says

Dabo Swinney isn’t ready to name a starting quarterback for Clemson’s season opener against Furman on Sept. 1, but the Tigers head coach has made one decision on the continuing QB battle.

Swinney confirmed what most have expected following Monday night’s practice when he announced that the quarterback competition will continue into the season, no matter who is named the starter for the opener.

“The one thing I can probably definitely say is regardless of how it plays out I don’t see a situation early where we just play one guy,” Swinney said. “I mean we’ve got some guys that are going to deserve to play. This is a situation that if somebody separates it’s probably going to take place in the games, because you’re talking about incredible competitors that are up to the task.”

Kelly Bryant remains the favorite to open the season as the starter, particularly after a strong performance in Saturday’s scrimmage, the first of the preseason.

Still, nearly three weeks remain until Clemson’s first game of the season.

“We’re going to keep evaluating every single rep, every single day,” Swinney said. “When it’s time to say, ‘Hey, this is where we are’ we’ll make that statement.”

But for now Bryant will continue to battle with true freshman Trevor Lawrence and redshirt freshman Chase Brice for the starting job.

When asked if all three could see playing time early in the season, Swinney joked that Hunter Renfrow could line up at quarterback as well.

“We might play four of them,” Swinney said smiling. “Renfrow might play some quarterback.”

This story was originally published August 13, 2018 at 8:25 PM.