Jaelyn Lay carving out spot to be 'special' in Tigers passing game

Jaelyn Lay had a breakout performance in the Orange vs. White game.

Then he attacked summer workouts.

Now he is impressing in fall camp. Dabo Swinney recently called him the best conditioned player on his roster. Brent Venables said the 6-foot-6, 270-pounder is the “most impressive” tight end he has ever seen in a fall camp.

And in Saturday’s scrimmage, Lay yet again showed what he can offer this fall for the Tigers.

“He just made some big plays,” tight ends coach and offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said. “He even got isolated on a big third-down catch where he was one-on-one and he had to win to make the play. And he was able to do that.

“So far, I’ve seen some flashes that I know what’s in there. I’m going to get it out of him. And he’s willing, and he wants to. A lot of it is you’ve got to be confident in what you’re doing. When you know what you’re doing, you stop thinking and you can play fast, you can play physical.”

During the spring, Elliott said Lay had to come on. The tight end room needed another reliable player behind Braden Galloway and Davis Allen. Swinney spoke earlier in the spring about the development of the two tight ends, stating both will be great NFL players.

But the redshirt sophomore has now entered the picture. And if the fall camp reports prove true, Clemson could have another elite tight end available. A four-star recruit in the 2019 class, 247sports.com ranked him as the No. 10 overall tight end in the country.

What he brings to the tight end position is something nobody else on the roster can — Lay is a matchup nightmare who knows how he can use his size. In the spring game, he outmuscled safety Bubba McAtee on a quick hitch route.

“He was hyperventilating out here the first couple of days,” Swinney recently said. “He’s a pleaser; he likes to please. He knows it, he can draw it on the board, but then all of a sudden you actually get out there full speed, and you panic and coach [Danny] Pearman is yelling at you, and then it’s all downhill. That’s just kind of how it is for those guys right now, like dropping ’em into the grease.

“The last couple of practices, he’s smoothed out a bit. Make no mistake; he’s going to be special.”

Swinney wanted Lay to deliver in the scrimmage, and he did. The next step for the tight end is to build on his performance. Elliott believes there’s plenty of room for Lay to continue to improve.

But the tight end has the potential to become a big part of the Clemson passing game this fall.