Swinney says Bryant "probably has as much potential" as Watson

Bryant is 4-5 for 19 yards passing and 5 carries for 32 yards in 2 games

by Tony Crumpton - Assoc. Editor - Tue Sep 15 14:14:11 GMT-04:00 2015

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney held his weekly press conference on Tuesday morning and discussed the backup quarterback battle and the potential of true freshman Kelly Bryant.

"He's improved a tremendous amount. There is no question," Swinney on Bryant. "We are all excited about him. Coming into camp, based on where we were this spring, really a long way away from being really in that conversation. But I really feel like he is really closed the gap and has improved. It is not really anything that Nick [Schuessler] has done."

Swinney did say despite Bryant's progression, Schuessler is the backup quarterback and has had some tough luck during the first two games.

"Nick right now gives us the best chance to win, and we are all very confident in Nick," Swinney said. "Very, very confident in him and the reason we are confident is because we are at practice everyday had one hand on the ball. Then we get a right read last week. We got a little drag route coming. An offensive lineman doesn't get the guy's hands down. It's fixing to be a big play. We have to evaluate what is the decision making and those type of things. Mentally he is right there where he needs to be. He's not Deshaun WatsonDeshaun Watson
So. Quarterback
#4 6-2, 207
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View Full Profile and things have to change a bit, but we can win with Nick. There is not anybody in this staff room that doesn't believe that. Same thing with him. He is not a guy that has played a lot. He has got to get out there and get some experience, so we have been able to coach him."

Swinney said that Bryant has probably as much potential as current Heisman candidate Watson.

"With Kelly, this is a guy that has incredible potential," Swinney said. "He probably has as much potential as Deshaun [Watson], but he is just learning everyday. You want to make sure you give him a chance to be successful. He has a bright, bright future for us. With the experience, he has got through camp and opportunities to get in some games he has really made a huge improvement. We all feel like that hopefully by the end of the year this is a guy just like we hoped as we are going into next year we have built some depth and some experience and some competition at the position. He certainly has the talent to do that."

Bryant is 4-5 for 19 yards passing and has five carries for 32 yards this season.

Kelly Bryant