Dabo Swinney says Clemson will 'roll' with multiple centers against Georgia

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney isn’t quite ready to commit to one center for his team’s opening weekend, top-five showdown with Georgia. 

“I think we will definitely play multiple centers throughout the game — probably will have to” Swinney said, per Anna Hickey. “We’ll roll somebody out there and get it started and go from there.”

Centers Mason Trotter and Hunter Rayburn were both listed in the top spot on the depth chart the Tigers released on Monday. 

Trotter is a redshirt sophomore and has played 193 snaps over two years at Clemson. Also a redshirt sophomore, Rayburn has played 97 career snaps over 10 games. Rayburn has the size advantage; he is 6-foot-4 and 320 pounds while Trotter is 6-foot-2 and 285 pounds. 

Matt Bockhorst, who will start at left guard this season, also took snaps at center during fall camp. Swinney was high on freshman Trent Howard at the position this summer as well. 

Two weeks ago, Swinney cited inconsistency as the reason for not having picked a No. 1 guy.

“The biggest thing is consistency,” Swinney said, per The Clemson Insider. “I think all of them physically can get the job done, and I think all three mentally can get the job done. But consistency with our snaps, that’s the area we’ve got to make some strides in. You’ve got to be 100 percent, 99.99999 percent when it comes to the C-Q exchange. So, that’s an area that I think we’ve got to clean up as we really hone in coming out of camp here. But all those guys have done a good job.”

Surprisingly, the Clemson offensive line struggled last season

Last season, the Clemson run game was not anything to write home about despite housing first-round draft pick Travis Etienne. The Tigers averaged just 153.8 rushing yards per game, which was 11th in the ACC behind teams like Virginia and Duke.

Etienne, the ACC’s all-time leading rusher, struggled in the big games, running for just 28 yards (1.6 yards per carry) against Notre Dame in their regular season meeting and 32 yards (3.2 yards per carry) against Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl. Admittedly, Etienne had 124 yards against the Irish in the ACC Championship Game, so he was much improved from the Nov. 7 game. 

Offensive coordinator Tony Elliott has spoken this offseason about the need to generate more of a run game, especially in high-pressure situations. 

“You’re gonna have to generate run game,” Elliott said. “We saw that last year when we played up at Notre Dame. We didn’t have enough run game to keep them honest. You’re not necessarily going to put a number on it, but it’s gotta be effective.”

The offensive line will need to be better this season to have the run game be to Elliott’s liking. They have three returning starters: Bockhorst, left tackle Jordan McFadden and right guard Will Putnam. Sophomore Walker Parks will get the start at right tackle. The 2020 ESPN freshman All-American played 199 snaps over 11 games last season.