Report: Dabo Swinney will name Cole Stoudt Clemson's starting quarterback
Clemson’s quarterback picture looks a whole lot clearer than it did a few weeks ago.
Heading into spring practice, the Tigers had a three-way competition brewing between senior Cole Stoudt, redshirt sophomore Chad Kelly and true freshman Deshaun Watson, an early enrollee.
Now, according to Fox Sports, Stoudt will officially be named the starter by head coach Dabo Swinney.
Watson, a highly regarded five-star dual-threat signal caller from Georgia, injured his collarbone during a scrimmage on April 7 which sidelined him for the rest of spring practice and kept him out of the spring game.
Then, on Monday, Swinney dismissed Kelly from the team for “conduct detrimental to (the) program” after an on-field blow up during Saturday’s spring game and a reported fender bender with a team assistant last Thursday night that turned ugly when the assistant tried to call the police.
— AliARogers (@AliARogers) April 15, 2014
An impressive spring game performance by Stoudt on Saturday in which he completed 15-of-23 passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns, coupled with Kelly's dismissal and Watson's injury, made Stoudt the easy choice for Swinney moving forward.
“It should be pretty obvious that he won the job,” Swinney said. “He’s a great leader who is highly respected by his teammates. He never once complained. He was always ready when we needed him. He’s earned it and he will be named the starter.”
It is pretty clear that Watson is the quarterback of the future for the Tigers, but for 2014, he’ll get to learn in a backup role behind the experienced Stoudt.
The 6-foot-4, 210-pound Stoudt backed up Tigers standout Tajh Boyd from 2011-13 and has appeared in 22 games in his career, completing 86-of-119 passes for 742 yards and eight touchdowns.
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