When Clemson begins fall camp on Friday, the offensive line is going to really sharpen its teeth going up against its own defensive line.

The Tigers’ defensive front is considered the best in the country. Besides having Bryan Bresee, the 2020 ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year, back at defensive tackle, they also have back 2019 All-ACC defensive tackle Tyler Davis.

All-ACC defensive end Myles Murphy is set to add to his second year, while Xavier Thomas and Justin Foster are both back after being affected by the coronavirus last summer and fall that kept them out of the lineup for the most part.

“We are going to sharpen our teeth pretty well going against that D-Line of ours,” left guard Matt Bockhorst said.

Because they are going against Clemson’s elite defensive front, Bockhorst believes the offensive line is headed in the right direction after being maligned by the media and the fans for most of last year.

“I am very excited and encouraged to see where we are at as an O-Line,” the senior said.

Bockhorst is the senior leader on a unit that struggled at times to run the football a year ago. The Tigers lost two starters in All-ACC left tackle Jackson Carman and center Cade Stewart. However, the issues in 2020 were with its depth, or lack thereof.

“The position we were in last year, we were without depth. I really think that was primarily a result of youth,” Bockhorst said. “When we are talking about an offensive line, in an ideal world, we recruit guys and they come in as true freshmen. When you are talking about the offensive line, that is not realistic. That is not a knock on anybody. I redshirted.

“It is very common for O-linemen to redshirt, but when you talk about a young offensive line room, the ability for those young guys to contribute is just not plentiful as maybe as it is at receiver. That was a contributing factor last year. So, we were kind of left with six, max, seven guys that we had trust in.”

Like head coach Dabo Swinney and offensive coordinator Tony Elliott have said, Bockhorst feels the Tigers’ lack of depth is no longer an issue. He feels last year forced a lot of the young linemen to grow up, it also helped in the spring when he sat out contact drills to nurse an injury.

“Moving forward this year, given the fact that I was not participating in live drills in the spring, Paul Tchio got an opportunity to get some experience against the first-team guys and grow up a little bit, and some other guys as well got an opportunity to really step into who they are as a player,” he said. “When you really get into that second or third year, it is kind of time to mature and become who you are supposed to be.”

Who are the Tigers supposed to be in 2021?

“I think there is a lot of play there. And, you know what, some of these young guys, some of these freshmen that are coming in, they are huge, athletic and strong guys,” Bockhorst said. “Collectively, as a whole group, I think this summer the O-Line has been phenomenal. I really do mean that. I think the competition has been excellent.”

And it is headed in the right direction.

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