The heart and soul of the unit is gone.
James Skalski, who spent the last couple of seasons roaming the middle of Clemson’s defense at linebacker, has exhausted his eligibility after six seasons in the program. So has Baylon Spector, who started alongside him at the second level. There’s also no more Nolan Turner, Andrew Booth or Mario Goodrich in the secondary, all of whom could hear their name called during the NFL Draft later this month.
Yet expectations are as high as they’ve ever been for the Tigers’ defense during the Dabo Swinney era.
“We have the potential, and I agree we have that as well,” defensive end K.J. Henry said. “But it means nothing until we go show it and until we put it on film. We have to earn that.”
Those expectations are there in large part because of what the Tigers have returning up front from a unit that finished second nationally in points allowed and in the top 15 in sacks and tackles for loss. With Henry and fellow end Xavier Thomas opting to run it back one last time with the Tigers, Clemson has its entire two-deep along the defensive line back, including Bryan Bresee and Myles Murphy, first-round draft hopefuls next year.
“I think we’ve got seven guys (along the defensive line) that will get drafted next year, so it’ll start right there,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said.
But despite those significant departures at the second and third levels, the Tigers aren’t exactly void of talent and experience there. Trenton Simpson, another prime 2023 draft candidate, is taking his six sacks and 12 tackles for loss from last season over to weakside linebacker to replace Spector, and former five-star signee Barrett Carter is in line to slide in at the Sam/nickel spot. In the middle, a couple of linebackers who’ve been in the program for a couple of years, LaVonta Bentley and Keith Maguire, have joined another former blue-chip recruit, Jeremiah Trotter, in the competition to be Skalski’s successor.
Clemson also has players on the back end – rising senior cornerback Sheridan Jones and veteran safeties Jalyn Phillips and R.J. Mickens, to name a few – who are primed for their most significant roles after biding their time as backups. Andrew Mukuba, a freshman All-American at strong safety last season, is a jack of all trades that Clemson plans to move around the secondary, and freshmen defensive backs Jeadyn Lukus, Toriano Pride and Sherrod Covil all showed this spring that they’re capable of providing immediate depth this fall, Swinney said.
“They can be as good as they want to be,” Swinney said of the defense. “They’ll have the type of depth that gives you a little bit of room for error, but I think we’ve got a chance to be a special group in the defensive line. We’re going to be fast and athletic at linebacker. And I think we’re going to finally have some great experience in the secondary. It’s just a matter of getting everybody healthy.”
Bresee (knee), fellow lineman Tre Williams (shoulders), safety Tyler Venables (hip) and cornerback Malcolm Greene (shoulder) are some of the key contributors who didn’t participate this spring as they continue to recover from injuries, though Swinney has said he expects them to be full go come fall camp. Assuming that happens, it will be first-year coordinator Wesley Goodwin’s first time working with everyone, but Henry said the spring gave the defense a chance to catch up to some of Goodwin’s wrinkles and nuances, including some things that Goodwin has said his predecessor, Brent Venables, doesn’t even know about.
“We’ve definitely got some nuances,” Henry said. “I’m excited for it, but we’ll see how those come up in the season.”
Even though it wasn’t whole, the defense still displayed some of that depth this spring. The unit drew the praise of Swinney and other coaches for some of its scrimmage performances before owning the spring game, one in which the Orange and White teams combined to score just 22 points. Neither offense had more than 184 total yards, and the defenses combined for double-digit sacks and tackles for loss.
“As far as the defense, this has been a spring that I’ve liked very much,” Murphy said. “It’s something on defense that’s really just clicking.”
Other than getting back to full strength, Henry said the only thing left for the group to do is work so that it can show what it’s fully capable of once the games that count roll around in the fall.
“Day in and day out, we have to put the work in to really get the results that we want,” Henry said. “Just excited to take that next step with everybody and really get a chance so we can build up to those moments.”
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