Starting Clemson DE Hurt

[Plaric 4]

Clemson DE Austin Bryant suffered a right foot injury last night. Will be out a month or so. Swinney hope he's back by GTech trip Sept. 22.

— Aaron Brenner (@Aaron_Brenner) August 16, 2016

DE named Bryant got hurt. A lot of guys on TigerNet upgraded their mood from "We are going to stomp Auburn" to "Well things just got Dicey" How good was this guy to cause such a swing in confidence?

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CLEMSON – The first major injury of fall camp happened at a position where the Clemson Tigers are thin on experience, but head coach Dabo Swinney says he feels confident there are enough options that sophomore defensive end

Austin Bryant’s loss isn’t too much of a blow.

Bryant suffered a small fracture during Monday evening’s practice and could be out for a month. Bryant played in 13 games last year and played 219 snaps. He had 35 tackles, including two tackles for loss. He had his best game against Oklahoma in the College Football Playoff game in the Orange Bowl when he had eight tackles in 63 plays as a substitute for an injured Shaq Lawson.

Tuesday’s practice was the last of the fall camp portion of August workouts, and Swinney said Bryant should be ready to go when he’s cleared at some point in September.

“Just kind of a freaky thing. It was really the same thing he did in high school, but he had a screw put in the bottom part of his toe this morning. So he is going to be out for a few weeks,” Swinney said. “Hopefully, we will have him back sooner than later. We are hoping for the Georgia Tech game that he will be ready to roll, but we will see. (It was) a pretty simple procedure as far as what they did. Like I said, he actually had the exact same thing on the left foot in high school. The screw stays with you for life so now he has two screws in the same spot on both feet. He will be back and ready to go and in the meantime, somebody else will step up. He had a good camp. He got a lot of good work in. So that's a positive. He didn't miss a lot work so he will be ready to roll when he gets back.”

Swinney said the Tigers have flexibility at the end spot, including moving defensive tackle Christian Wilkins to that spot. Wilkins practiced at end during the spring.

“We will look at all those options. I think that has always been a factor for us. That's why we did it this spring. We really needed to have that plan ready, and we needed to get some information to find out. He demonstrated this spring that he could do everything we needed him to do. The good news is we have that flexibility with the guys we have inside. Jabril (Robinson) being at end has been a big plus for us. That's been really good. He's 260. He got sick this spring and summer and lost a little bit of weight. So it really is a better spot for him right now. I think he will end up back inside at some point, but it is a better spot. I'm really proud of Yeargin. He's had a great camp.

http://www.tigernet.com/story/football/Swinney-coaches-options-freaky-injury-Bryant-15042

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Going into fall camp and the early part of 2016, there were four players that Clemson couldn’t afford to lose on the defensive side of the ball due to youth and experience.

Cordrea Tankersley, Ben Boulware, Austin Bryant, and Jadar Johnson.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney announced Tuesday evening after the final practice before classes begin that Bryant – the Tigers only defensive end with significant experience – will miss the rest of fall camp and beginning of the season, including the opener at Auburn, due to a broken bone in his foot. The hope is that Bryant will be back for the game at Georgia Tech in late September.

What does his injury mean for Brent Venables’ defense and the defensive line?

First, Bryant was the only end on the roster to play significant snaps last season in a meaningful game. The Pavo (GA) native appeared in 13 games and played 219 snaps, including 63 snaps in the Capital One Orange Bowl after Shaq Lawson went down with a knee injury. In the game against Oklahoma, he contributed eight tackles, including half a sack.

http://www.tigernet.com/story/football/Who-replace-Austin-Bryant-defensive-end-15041

[DAG 34,027]

5 minutes ago, Plaric said:

DE named Bryant got hurt. A lot of guys on TigerNet upgraded their mood from "We are going to stomp Auburn" to "Well things just got Dicey" How good was this guy to cause such a swing in confidence?

 

Apparently, he must be their Carl Lawson. Where are the Clemson visitors? maybe they can shed some more light on this.

[Barnacle 9,064]

From what I've gathered, he backed up Shaq Lawson last year. Provided depth, and was expected to be an impact player. I also understand that Clemson is inexperienced at defensive end,  that he had the most experience at the position. 

I'll take inexperienced DEs against the zone read all day. 

[Barnacle 9,064]

In fact they now only have 161 total snaps at the position, with 147 coming from on guy. 

Bryant had over 200 last season. 

[Plaric 4]

That is rough. Seems like a definite reason to be concerned then.

I think the game will be a shoot out somehow.

[SumterAubie 3,031]

I see where Fournette is wearing a walking boot due to an ankle sprain.

[VipersStrike1 230]

3 hours ago, Plaric said:

DE named Bryant got hurt. A lot of guys on TigerNet upgraded their mood from "We are going to stomp Auburn" to "Well things just got Dicey" How good was this guy to cause such a swing in confidence?

Very good DE. Replaced injured Shaq Lawson against OU and had a big game. Their other DE Clelin Ferrell had 4 sacks in a recent scrimmage, so the cupboard's not bare, but this is a huge loss. IMO, bigger than us losing Jamel Dean.

Here's the story on Austin's broken foot:

http://www.tigernet.com/story/football/Who-replace-Austin-Bryant-defensive-end-15041

[VipersStrike1 230]

18 minutes ago, Plaric said:

I think the game will be a shoot out somehow.

Their defensive strength is still their DTs, where Gus likes to run.

[bigbird 60,580]

Our OL strength is in our Guards, so it should be a fun matchup.

[AuburnSoldier 117]

Sorry to hear the kid's hurt. Hopefully he's back for the GT game. 

[abw0004 10,134]

I believe our biggest strength was in our offensive tackles.  If they were going to beat us, they had to beat us on the outside even though I originally did not think they could even do that as I am impressed with Golson and Leff.  Those two have been training against Carl Lawson all year, so they are used to going against talent all day every day.  Clemson did not have a returning defensive end to begin with, and with Bryant out now, I feel good about this.  This may very well help our starting quarterback ease into this game knowing he is protected and will help the coaches feel more confident if they do not start a pure running quarterback (JFIII) that will have to run away from pressure.  

Clemson will have to blitz the linebackers a bunch to create pressure, putting their secondaries on islands.  They may be like Auburn's defense last year where we had to blitz Cass every down to have some pressure.  Either way, 17 days until gameday!

[AUfan_UAgrad 230]

15 hours ago, Barnacle said:

From what I've gathered, he backed up Shaq Lawson last year. Provided depth, and was expected to be an impact player. I also understand that Clemson is inexperienced at defensive end,  that he had the most experience at the position. 

I'll take inexperienced DEs against the zone read all day. 

Zone read only works if our QB (whoever it is) actually keeps the ball every now and then.  I get so sick of watching play after play where our QB's should have kept the ball and didn't.  I understand that he (whoever our QB is at the time) is going to miss a read every now and then, that's normal.  But it seems early in the season the zone read call is predetermined.  I know it has been discussed several times about Gus predetermining the call.  If he is, he better start calling the QB's number more otherwise our opponents will continue to not have to worry about the QB running the ball.  It has taken time for me to get comfortable with our QB running as much as say Nick and Cam did, but with the success of it when done correctly it's devastating.  Hell when Nick was QB we basically were telling the other team not only that we were going to run the ball but most of the time also which direction, and they still couldn't stop us. 

[VipersStrike1 230]

12 hours ago, abw0004 said:

I believe our biggest strength was in our offensive tackles.

You're the first person to say OT over OG or Center.

OG is the consensus, which I agree.

[abw0004 10,134]

9 minutes ago, VipersStrike1 said:

You're the first person to say OT over OG or Center.

OG is the consensus, which I agree.

I don't know why I said offensive tackle so I agree.   Meant to say guards in that sentence.  I wasn't quite awake yet.  Offensive guards are stronger although I do like Golson at tackle.  It's his best position.  And Leff does have experience so I trust the line across the board.  This will be a good game in my opinion.  

[austudnt23 1,432]

This is a huge loss for them..

[NoALtiger 3,873]

Yeah that's a tough break right there, gonna really test their depth right off the back. I don't know to what extent, but this obviously will have an impact. 

[VipersStrike1 230]

1 hour ago, abw0004 said:

This will be a good game in my opinion.  

Watson getting injured would be the only injury that would cause me to say "This will be a good game."

[abw0004 10,134]

10 hours ago, VipersStrike1 said:

 

[abw0004 10,134]

10 hours ago, VipersStrike1 said:

Watson getting injured would be the only injury that would cause me to say "This will be a good game."

Don't always have to be pessimistic.  It helps to be positive every once in a while.  I know you told me you like to be "realistic," but there is a difference in that and always being pessimistic.  Auburn does have a lot of good things going for them.  They aren't a perfect team, but no team is.  Just an observation.

[AUEngineer2016 407]

Posting a comment from a Clemson fan (/u/gbatt1024) on Reddit:

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I would expect a heavy does of Wilkins shifting out to DE as well as Yeargin. Critically thin position right now, but at the end of the day Wilkins, Watkins, Lawrence, Ferrell doesn't look too bad.

FWIW that starting front 4 would have an average weight over 300 lbs, and I'd expect them to play a whoooooooole lot of nickle and dime with that setup. They're going to need the speed on the edge and will have to rely on their front 4 to plug up the middle and stop the run. 

I can also see this boding well for a read-option attack, as it will force a player who's playing in an unnatural position to make a snap decision. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

Might make for an interesting conversation around here if the #2 team in the country looks significantly different due to the absence of one key player...

[abw0004 10,134]

24 minutes ago, AUEngineer2016 said:

Posting a comment from a Clemson fan (/u/gbatt1024) on Reddit:

FWIW that starting front 4 would have an average weight over 300 lbs, and I'd expect them to play a whoooooooole lot of nickle and dime with that setup. They're going to need the speed on the edge and will have to rely on their front 4 to plug up the middle and stop the run. 

I can also see this boding well for a read-option attack, as it will force a player who's playing in an unnatural position to make a snap decision. 

On a completely unrelated note (sorry), did you take that picture in your signature picture on the Toomer's Oaks celebration the day before they were cut down?  I noticed that picture and the one I took (my thumbnail) are on the same day almost in the same exact spot.  We may have been standing next to each other and not even have known it.  War Eagle

[VipersStrike1 230]

1 hour ago, abw0004 said:

Don't always have to be pessimistic.  It helps to be positive every once in a while.  I know you told me you like to be "realistic," but there is a difference in that and always being pessimistic.  Auburn does have a lot of good things going for them.  They aren't a perfect team, but no team is.  Just an observation.

"Always pessimistic"? If you would have followed my predictions through the years on ITAT, you would know I predict far more successful seasons and victories than unsuccessful seasons and defeats.

I understand everyone is undefeated right now, thus spirits are high. However, we are not beating Clemson. They are WAY too good offensively. Our ceiling out of the gate, at home, with inexperience at all skill positions, is around 27 points. Clemson will score more than 27.

They weren't afraid of JH in 2010 when I predicted victory. And they won't be this season either.

[AuburnNTexas 7,178]

On 8/17/2016 at 6:31 AM, abw0004 said:

I believe our biggest strength was in our offensive tackles.  If they were going to beat us, they had to beat us on the outside even though I originally did not think they could even do that as I am impressed with Golson and Leff.  Those two have been training against Carl Lawson all year, so they are used to going against talent all day every day.  Clemson did not have a returning defensive end to begin with, and with Bryant out now, I feel good about this.  This may very well help our starting quarterback ease into this game knowing he is protected and will help the coaches feel more confident if they do not start a pure running quarterback (JFIII) that will have to run away from pressure.  

Clemson will have to blitz the linebackers a bunch to create pressure, putting their secondaries on islands.  They may be like Auburn's defense last year where we had to blitz Cass every down to have some pressure.  Either way, 17 days until gameday!

If they do have to Blitz because of this I hope we have added the TE to pass when teams blitz as that is one of the best ways to beat the blitz.

[abw0004 10,134]

1 minute ago, AuburnNTexas said:

If they do have to Blitz because of this I hope we have added the TE to pass when teams blitz as that is one of the best ways to beat the blitz.

Expect Chandler Cox to do some pretty good things this year.  Surprisingly no one is talking about him.