Dabo Swinney says his offensive line is headed in the right direction as top-ranked Clemson gets set for its season opener at Wake Forest on Sept. 12.

The offensive line has been one of the main areas of concern in the preseason. The Tigers had to replace four starters from last year’s team, which Swinney feels they have done successfully.

The first group offensive line, which consist of Jackson Carman and Jordan McFadden at the tackle positions, Matt Bockhorst and Will Putnam at the two guard sports and Cade Stewart at center, had a good camp and there are no concerns. The concern lies with the second group.

Injuries and protocol procedures during fall camp limited some of the others on the offensive line and Clemson still has not developed the depth it was hoping to create up front. Offensive line coach Robbie Caldwell likes to rotate a lot of his players during the course of a game, so they can get the experience they need.

“We are heading that direction,” Swinney said.

The Tigers had a couple of offensive linemen from the second unit miss this past Wednesday’s scrimmage, their last of the preseason. The guys who missed the scrimmage will be in Clemson’s rotation at Wake Forest.

“We are going to have a lot of guys that I think can go play, but once you start getting into game prep, you have to tighten things down when you get into a real game week,” Swinney said. “With the twenty-hour rule, and it is really a seventeen-hour rule because three of those hours are game day. So, once you get into the seventeen-hour prep time, you have to be very efficient because as far as who you can rep gets cut down.

“So, we have to get the rotation dialed in.”

Swinney went on to say he does love the depth they have on both sides, but the biggest thing they have right now is getting the depth with that second group healthy and ready for the season.

Reserve guard Tayquon Johnson returned to practice earlier this week after spending the last couple of weeks banged up. Blake Vinson is working his way back from a knee injury and Swinney says that will be a shot in the arm for the offensive line when he returns.

“It’s just really getting that second group as functional as they can be, where they can be game ready and we can trust them,” Swinney said. “Robbie has done a great job as far as finding multiple guys that can snap, guards playing tackle, tackles going inside.

“I think we are heading in the right direction. It is going to be a little work in progress as we go through the season with that group.”

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