CLEMSON – When you lose a starter to the NFL draft, it’s generally considered that you got worse at the position. That may seem to be the case when Clemson lost tight end Davis Allen, who was selected in the fifth round by the Los Angeles Rams.

Look deeper and you’ll see the Tigers’ new starter at tight end is in the perfect storm for his junior year. Jake Briningstool was a heavy contributor as a sophomore, making 25 catches for 285 yards and four touchdowns as one half of a great tight end tandem with Allen.

The stage is now all Briningstool’s and head coach Dabo Swinney has the utmost confidence in him. Following the second Clemson scrimmage, he talked about how he’s been carved for this moment.

“Jake’s been ready to be the guy since he got here,” Swinney said. “Sometimes it’s hard to be patient, right, you know Davis Allen’s pretty good and I think Jake, he wanted to be the guy but he wasn’t ready to be the guy. He just maturity-wise wasn’t quite there and physically wasn’t quite there but was still able to be a productive player for us and man, he had a great guy like Davis Allen to really show him.”

Briningstool’s calling card is his athleticism and his catch radius. He fits the mold of the modern tight end at 6-foot-6, 232 pounds. Add in the introduction of Garrett Riley’s offense, and the junior tight end has even more opportunity to make big plays for the Tigers.

Swinney is proud of the steps Briningstool has made, and he knows there’s a lot of great things ahead for him.

”Man, I’m really proud of Brinny. He’s done great, he is, sky’s the limit for this guy. I mean, he’s got his body in a great spot, he’s worked really hard, he’s matured, he’s smart, doesn’t make a lot of mental errors. He’s got elite ball skills and he really gets it and he’s hyper-competitive. I mean, he is a really competitive dude so there’s no limit to him,” Swinney said.

From the Tigers head coach, it sounds like Briningstool is checking all the boxes for 2023. Now all that’s left is to see it come to fruition Sept. 4 when Clemson travels up to play the Duke Blue Devils.

With two years left for Briningstool, Swinney believes he can set the standard for Tigers tight ends and the phrase “sky’s the limit” was repeated when talking about what he can bring to this offense as the starter.

“He’s got two years left and I mean, he can be as good as we’ve had or the best,” Swinney said. “He’s got that type of ability in him so hopefully he’ll stay healthy and if he does, you’ll see that No. 9 making a lot of plays this year.”

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