Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney sounds open to playing quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei the entire season.
The highly-touted freshman Uiagalelei has seen some early action in mop up time behind Trevor Lawrence, and his reps might expand down the stretch. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
According to 247Sports, Swinney was asked about the young passer’s role after blowing out The Citadel, and he said, “I don’t know. I’d say anything’s possible, but what makes him effective is he’s 250 pounds. He’s a big, strong man. But anything’s possible. That’s for sure.”
Clemson is in a very interesting position with Uiagalelei. The NCAA is granting an extra year of eligibility to players this fall, which means Clemson loses nothing by playing him.
Also, we all know Trevor Lawrence is bound for the NFL after this season. That means Clemson has to at least think about the future, which is Uiagalelei.
So, there’s certainly an incentive to get him some snaps.
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At the same time, Clemson should never take Lawrence off of the field unless it’s an absolute slaughter. Lawrence is going to be the first pick in the 2021 NFL draft.
A guy like him comes around once every decade. He looks and plays like he was engineered in a lab. When you find a player like him, you never take one snap away from him.
Trevor Lawrence launched this from the logo ???? pic.twitter.com/27xANCW1un
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) September 19, 2020
So, there’s nothing wrong with Clemson giving Uiagalelei some snaps, but Lawrence will remain the main show. There’s no question about that at all.