Suspended Clemson Players From College Football Playoff Ruled Ineligible for 2019 Season

The Clemson Tigers won't be at full strength heading into the 2019 college football season and will have to defend their national title without two key players.

Remember when the NCAA suspended three Clemson players ahead of the College Football Playoff? One of them was Dexter Lawrence, who was drafted to the New York Giants in the first round about a month ago. However, the other two weren't so lucky.

Braden Galloway and Zach Giella had their appeal denied by the NCAA and both will be ineligible for 2019.

That's rough news for the Tigers players.

Galloway, a sophomore tight end, and Giella, a senior offensive lineman, claimed they had no knowledge of their consumption of Ostarine, which is a "known contaminant of legitimate products," as their representative said in the statement. The two had a solid case considering they were able to prove they had very low levels detected in their system in December of 2018, shortly before the College Football Playoff.

However, the ruling was not in their favor and their representative is hoping this case serves as a catalyst for the NCAA changing its policy on this front due to the controversial nature, coupled with strong evidence to support the assertion the players did not knowingly consume Ostarine.

Thankfully, Clemson once again landed a top recruiting class, or else these losses would've hurt a lot more.