Clemson quarterback Chris Denson is battling for the starting job

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Chris Denson’s path to Clemsonfootball has moved quickly. Just over a year ago, the former Plant City High School standout was finishing his senior season in Florida. By November, the 17 year old freshman was already taking snaps inside Memorial Stadium and leading a touchdown drive against Furman.

The brief appearance showed flashes of the athleticism that made Denson one of the more intriguing dual threat quarterbacks in his recruiting class. He completed all four of his passes and added a long rushing touchdown, finishing the night with 108 rushing yards on seven carries.

“He is unbelievably explosive,” head coach Dabo Swinney said of the freshman after the game. “He’s still developing as a quarterback. There’s still some growth there that’s got to happen. But we’re seeing lots of improvement in practice physically, and just developmentally, as far as throwing the ball.”

Even with the early excitement, Denson spent most of the season learning behind the scenes. Now heading into the 2026 season, his main focus has been sharpening his passing.

“It’s just going back to what I knew that I needed to work on from last season and just hitting that in the offseason, or the little time that we got after the bowl game, and still continuing to do that,” Denson said after spring practice. “I feel like I need to improve as a passer. But I mean I’m stacking day by day, I’m getting there.”

Denson arrived at Clemson with plenty of production already on his résumé. During his final two years at Plant City High School, he threw 55 touchdown passes and added 1,940 rushing yards with 16 more scores on the ground. His mobility was so noticeable last fall that Clemson’s coaching staff even used him in practice to simulate mobile quarterbacks on opposing teams.

While running the ball comes naturally, Denson has spent much of the offseason working closely with new quarterbacks coach Tajh Boyd to polish the rest of his game.

“Tajh was a big help,” Denson said. “Also, (former Clemson quarterback) Cole Stoudt was right there. Everybody was really helping me to get where I wanted to be. I mean, this is a place where everybody is kind of trying to push everybody, and I told them what I wanted and they’re helping me get there. But yeah, Tajh is a big help. He just knew what I needed to work on and we hit that on the head.”

Boyd’s experience running Clemson’s offense has helped the young quarterback understand the system from a player’s perspective.

“In meetings, he can kind of explain it better because he’s been in that situation. He’s been where we’re at in Coach Morris’ offense, and for him to be able to go up and explain it and tell us what he was thinking and why he was thinking that, it really helps.”

Another offseason priority has been adding size. When Denson arrived on campus he was the lightest quarterback on the roster, but that has already started to change.

“I’m close to 200 now,” he said. “Last year I was about 190. So I want to thank the nutrition staff for that. I want to be around 205 and I feel like that’s a pretty easy goal for me.”

Denson knows there is plenty of talent in Clemson’s quarterback room, but he also sees the competition as something that benefits everyone involved.

“All those guys in the room, we’re all fighting for that starting job,” he said. “I mean, myself, CV, Brock, Tate, Trent, that’s what we’re here for. You know what I mean? And I feel like at the end of the day, it’s going to make all of us better, no matter who runs out there first.”

Clemson fans will get their first look at how far the young quarterback has come when the Tigers hold their annual Orange and White Spring Game on March 28 at Memorial Stadium.

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This article originally appeared on Clemson Wire: Clemson quarterback Chris Denison on fighting to earn starting job

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