With Clemson’s mammoth opener against Georgia just a weeks away, The Clemson Insider is taking a closer look at some of the position matchups that could go a long way in determining the outcome of that Sept. 4 clash at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
Next up is Clemson’s linebackers against Georgia’s tight ends and running backs. TCI previously analyzed matchups between the Tigers’ offensive line and the Bulldogs’ defensive front (and vice versa) and Clemson’s receivers against Georgia’s secondary.
Note: If only one number is listed in parentheses beside a player’s name, that means that player hasn’t started a game. The number listed is how many career games he has played. If no numbers are listed for a player, he has yet to play a game.
Clemson’s projected starting linebackers
WLB Baylon Spector, Sr (42 games played, 11 starts)
MLB James Skalski, Sr (56, 25)
SLB Trenton Simpson, Soph (12, 3) and/or Malcolm Greene, Soph (12, 3)
Like most positions on the Tigers’ depth chart, the linebackers are loaded with experience.
Spector is a fifth-year senior, Simpson is a former five-star prospect who got a handful of starts on the strong side last season, and Skalski is the heart and soul of Clemson’s defense in the middle. The sixth-year senior (the Tigers have two of those on defense this season) has played 1,222 career snaps and the ninth-most games in ACC history. Nobody in league history has played in more league championship games (5) than him.
With 335 career tackles between them, Skalski and Spector have earned the Bruise Brothers moniker from Clemson coach Dabo Swinney. There’s little doubt as to the duo’s knowledge, aggressiveness and toughness, particularly when playing downhill against the run. Simpson showed flashes of his raw athleticism and instincts as a newcomer last season with 6.5 tackles for loss and four sacks.
The need for improvement with the linebackers is covering tight ends in the middle of the field and running backs out of the backfield in space, which would go a long way in helping the Tigers improve their pass defense overall. It wasn’t that Clemson was bad in that department last season — the Tigers allowed the second-fewest passing yards in the ACC (214.2 per game) — but they struggled with it against better competition.
It certainly helped that Boston College (Phil Jurkovec), Notre Dame (Ian Book) and Ohio State (Justin Fields) had quarterbacks that have already been or will be taken in the NFL Draft, but those teams combined for 1,122 passing yards against Clemson. The tight ends’ receiving stats in those four games? 23 catches, 280 yards, 3 TDs.
Georgia’s projected starting tight end and running back
TE John FitzPatrick, Jr (23, 6) and/or Brock Bowers, Fr
RB Zamir White, Jr (23, 11) or James Cook, Sr (35, 3) (16 rec last two seasons each, No. 4 rec last season) or Kendall Milton, Soph (7, 1)
Georgia is big and fast at the tight end position. The good news for Clemson is the Bulldogs won’t be quite as big and fast as they usually are there.
Former five-star recruit Arik Gilbert transferred in from LSU during the offseason. The 6-foot-5, 248-pounder could’ve lined up at receiver, tight end or really anywhere on the field. Darnell Washington is another potential mismatch for Georgia at the position at 6-7 and 265 pounds.
But neither is likely to play against Clemson. Gilbert hasn’t been with the team this summer after recently taking a personal leave of absence that he’s yet to return from, and Washington sustained a foot injury during fall camp that required surgery. That leaves the Bulldogs with John FitzPatrick and true freshman Brock Bowers as the most likely contributors for now.
FitzPatrick also has plenty of size at 6-7 and 250 pounds, but with just 11 career receptions, the junior is more in the mold of an in-line blocking tight end. Bowers, a four-star signee out of Napa, California, is more of a flex tight end and receiving threat but has yet to play a collegiate snap.
With White, Cook, Milton and Kenny McIntosh at running back, Georgia may be the deepest it’s been since the Todd Gurley-Nick Cubb-Sony Michel trio Clemson got an up-close look at in 2013 and 2014. Cook, perhaps the most versatile of the group, was the Bulldogs’ fourth-leading receiver last season.
The matchup
Gilbert and Washington are almost certainly out for this game, and even FitzPatrick was dinged up a bit during camp. So what does Georgia’s implementation of its available tight ends in the passing game even look like at this point?
Maybe the Bulldogs still try to find mismatches using FitzPatrick’s height. And word out of Georgia is the Bulldogs’ coaching staff is high on Bowers, but do they trust him enough to immediately put him on the field for significant snaps, particularly if he has to help try to block Clemson’s defensive line?
Georgia could also go with more four-receiver sets (though the Bulldogs are dealing with injuries at that position, too) or use its running backs more as pass-catchers, which is a matchup Ohio State exploited against Clemson last season with Trey Sermon, who had four catches for 61 yards in the Buckeyes’ Sugar Bowl win.
Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables could choose to counter with more zone coverage, and if the Tigers’ pass rush can create consistent pressure on Georgia quarterback J.T. Daniels, that would help protect the second and third levels. Clemson needs its linebackers to be better in coverage, but if the Bulldogs do try to get more receivers and backs involved, don’t be surprised to see Simpson and Greene, the Tigers’ nickelback, on the field at the same time often to better match Georgia’s personnel moves.
Football season has finally arrived. Time to represent your Tigers and show your stripes!
