Thomas Austin sees healthy offensive line heading into fall camp

Jordan McFadden garnered the second-most votes of any All-ACC first-team selection.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Fri Jul 29 08:00:11 GMT-04:00 2022

CLEMSON – Offensive line coach Thomas Austin knows he has talent in his room, but what he needs is healthy talent.

The Tigers struggled to stay healthy on offense last season, and that includes the offensive line, where former offensive line coach Robbie Caldwell struggled to find the right combination on game day. The good news for Austin is that all of his players are healthy heading into fall camp.

"We're all 100 percent right now. After the spring, the offensive line did a prehab gauntlet program, an evaluation of functional moving screening where they tested shoulders, knees, hips, and mobility, and guys responded well to that,” Austin told TigerNet last week. "Dietrick (Pennington) (knee) has been completely cleared. He's feeling more and more confident. We are going to bring him along as fast as we can. The pounding of practice isn't something he's really had yet, so we need to monitor that and bring him along in a healthy way."

The Tigers appear to be set at both tackle spots, with Jordan McFadden manning the left side and Walker Parks the right side. Marcus Tate has the edge at left guard and Will Putnam is the leader at center. Bryn Tucker and Mitchell Mayes will battle for the right guard spot.

"We will evaluate every part of practice and each day, we'll roll the guy that graded better out there first,” Austin said of the battle at right guard. “We do want it to mean something, for that guy to be first in flex lines and first in practice. When you get into your scrimmage situations, sometimes guys separate themselves even more. You see who can distance themselves when you're not on the field coaching them."

Putnam settled in after the move to center and had a good spring, and should be more ready to play than Matt Bockhorst in 2021, who only moved to center in fall camp last season. Ryan Linthicum and Trent Howard will battle for the second-team spot.

"And then the reports this summer have been excellent. Putnam is going to take every snap full-speed in practice,” Austin said. “Some young centers have issues with that and if you're doing it half-speed, then everything can be fine. Now you speed it up and you have Bryan Bresee across from you and it can be more difficult. Bockhorst dabbled in it that spring, but he didn't get many competitive reps. For Putnam to have 15 extra practices plus the entire summer with the mindset he's going to be the starting center makes a big difference. You can't thank Bock enough for what he did, very unselfish, but he was in a tough position.

"I think I was probably surprised at how well Will Putnam took over the center job. And it was good to see Howard and Linthicum start to take the next step, because that's what you're concerned about is the depth behind Putnam."

Blake Miller has been playing both tackle spots and Collin Sadler has been at left guard behind Tate.

Austin said that his goal for the line has been to get back to the basics, fundamentals, and techniques of the position.

"I think the guys have really bought into that, some of the techniques are different than what they've done in the past,” Austin said. “We've changed a few things in our offense so some of the technique is going to change with that."