The last time the media spoke with Marion Hobby, he had Shaq Lawson and Kevin Dodd playing the defensive end positions at Clemson. Those two combined for 49 tackles for loss and 24.5 sacks in 2015.

Of course that was before the national championship game against Alabama. A lot has changed since then at defensive end. Hobby lost both Lawson and Dodd to the NFL, leaving him with perhaps the most inexperience he has had at his position since the 2012 season when he had a senior named Malliciah Goodman, Corey Crawford and young and a very inexperienced player by the name of Vic Beasley.

Heading into next week’s Dabo Swinney media golf outing, where the media will get to speak with Swinney and all of his assistant coaches, Hobby has sophomore Austin Bryant and freshman Clelin Ferrell has his two starting bookends. Sophomores Chris Register and Richard Yeargin are listed as their backups.

Ferrell redshirted last season and the other three combined for three tackles behind the line of scrimmage and 2.5 sacks. Bryant, who had two tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks, played in 13 games and recorded 35 tackles.

The good news for Clemson is Bryant got valuable experience in the Orange Bowl when he came in for an injured Lawson and recorded eight tackles and a half of a sack in the Tigers’ win over Oklahoma. Though he had just one tackle, Yeargin did play 17 snaps in the College Football Playoff Game.

So it goes without saying that Hobby will be asked a lot of questions at Swinney’s media golf outing. The most popular one will be about Christian Wilkins role on the outside. If you recall, Wilkins worked a lot out on the edge in the spring and Swinney says he can definitely fill a need there when it comes to depth.

Also, how does redshirt freshman Sterling Johnson fit into that mix? At 6-foot-4, 295 pounds, Johnson is big for a defensive end. Can he be quick enough on the edge to cause some problems for opposing offenses?

Other questions will more than likely be about incoming freshman Xavier Kelly (6-5, 255). He was rated as the No. 1 prospect in Kansas and as the eighth best defensive end in the nation coming out of high school.

It’s doubtful freshman, and Bamberg-Ehrhardt High School product, Lasamuel Davis (6-4, 215) will be able to help this year, though he did participate in spring drills. Davis still needs to get bigger and stronger before he can start competing for serious playing time.

So that does not leave Hobby with very many options at defensive end, but instead a whole lot of questions, which he is sure to be answering plenty about come next Tuesday at the Reserve on Lake Keowee.