In this series we will pick the best players from Clemson’s Modern Era (1990-present). This is the era following the Tigers’ great teams of the Danny Ford and Charlie Pell era. Some of the players on this list might be considered among Clemson’s all-time greats and you are sure to recognize a few if not all of the names on our list.

We continue our series today by looking at the offensive tackles on Clemson’s All-Modern Era Team.

After reviewing our picks each day, please feel free to tell us if you agree with them or not by going to The Rock on our forums page. All of our forum pages are free to view and register, just like all of our content.

First Team

Stacy Long (1986, 1988-’90): Long barely made this list because his senior year at Clemson came in 1990. But it’s a good thing he was eligible because it’s clear he was the best offensive tackle to wear the orange and white in the last 25 years. Long was a consensus First-Team All-American as a senior and First-Team Sporting News All-American as a junior. He was an Outland Trophy finalist in 1990, the second Tiger so honored. He was also named First-Team All-ACC twice. He had 141 career knockdown blocks, a record for an offensive tackle. He was two-time ACC Player-of-the-Week in 1990 and a six-time choice in his career, more than any other Tiger before Tajh Boyd and Sammy Watkins came along. Clemson won 40 games from 1987-90, fourth-most in the nation. He was named to Clemson’s Centennial team in 1996 and was inducted into the Clemson Hall of Fame in 2004.

Barry Richardson (2004-’07): Richardson was thrown into action after the fourth game of his freshman year. That turned out to be a good thing as he turned out to be one the best offensive tackles the Tigers have ever had. He was First-team All-American by CollegeFootballNews.com and a second-team All-American by the Walter Camp Foundation. He was a First-Team All-ACC selection each of the last two years. He was the first Tiger offensive tackle to be a first-team pick since Jim Bundren (1996,97). Ricchardson was one of the more reliable linemen in Clemson history, as he played 49 consecutive games and started 44 in a row. The start total tied for eighth-most in school history and second-most in history by an offensive tackle. He played 890 snaps in 2007…played 2,778 career snaps.

Second Team

Jim Bundren (1994-’97): He was a second-team All-America by Football News as a senior and was a third-team choice by Sporting News and Associated Press. He was also first-team academic All-ACC in 1996 and 1997, and joined Steve Fuller as only two football players in Clemson history at the time be named first team All-ACC on the field and in the classroom in consecutive years. He started all 47 games of his career at offensive tackle, first Clemson tackle in history to do that. He holds Clemson record for most total starts by a Clemson offensive tackle in addition to his consecutive streak. He graded 80 percent for every game in 1997 and was named two-time ACC Offensive Lineman-of-the-Week in 1997. Bundren was a prime reason Raymond Priester became Clemson’s career rushing leader during the same era, 1994-97.

Chris Hairston (2007-’10): Hairston started 36-of-47 games he played for the Tigers, playing a total 2,260 snaps in his collegiate career. He made 22 consecutive starts. In 2010 he was tabbed a first-team All-ACC selection at tackle. He made 13 starts, logging 31 knockdowns appearing in a team-high 821 snaps. He allowed just one sack as the Tigers’ highest-rated offensive lineman in film grade for six contests. He registered a 82.3 percent grade, the team’s best average.

Third Team

Brandon Thomas (2010-’13): Thomas was a two-time All-ACC selection and both honors came after moving over to left tackle in 2012. He also played guard as a redshirt freshman and sophomore. He played in 49 games and started 36 of them. In 2013, he had 32 knockdown blocks on his way to being named to the All-ACC First-Team Offense. In 2012, he was also named to the All-ACC First Team after recording 23 knockdown blocks.