Before the spring, Dabo Swinney targeted a specific need Clemson will need to address in the transfer portal. But are there other positions where the Tigers could add more outside reinforcements now that it’s over?
Swinney said following the team’s spring game Saturday he doesn’t envision that happening.
“I mean, unless I’ve got guys show up and tell me they love me but they’re leaving me,” Swinney said. “I don’t anticipate that, but who knows? If all things stay the same right now, we don’t (have other portal needs).”
The interior of the offensive line — center, more specifically — is the area where the Tigers could use some immediate help now without Hunter Rayburn (medical disqualification) and Mason Trotter (unspecified reasons). Trotter is still with the team and practiced throughout the spring, but Swinney said before the spring started that Trotter, who started five games at center last season, is likely to be unavailable for most of the 2022 season.
Converted guard Will Putnam spent most of the spring getting the first-team reps at center and, by all accounts, had a solid 15 practices making the transition. But the Tigers don’t have any available players on the current roster that have snapped the ball in a game, and Swinney confirmed over the weekend coaches still plan to monitor the portal for at least one interior offensive lineman that they feel could help right away.
Linebacker and cornerback were others positions where it appeared Clemson might need some outside help heading into the offseason. While the Tigers wait to get some their injured running backs (Will Shipley and Kobe Pace) and receivers (E.J. Williams and Adam Randall) back in the fold this fall, the departures of James Skalski, Baylon Spector, Andrew Booth and Mario Goodrich left significant voids at the second and third levels of the defense.
But Clemson moved Trenton Simpson from the Sam/nickel spot to weak-side linebacker and put rising sophomore Barrett Carter in his place this spring. LaVonta Bentley and Keith Maguire are also back at the position, and coaches are high on former blue-chip recruit Jeremiah Trotter, who got significant reps at middle linebacker in the spring game. Linebacker signees T.J. Dudley, Wade Woodaz and Kobe McCloud will also arrive on campus this summer.
At corner, the depth still isn’t where Clemson would like it to be. The Tigers went through the spring with just four scholarship corners, and two of those (Sheridan Jones and freshman Jeadyn Lukus) missed part of it with injuries. But Swinney said Nate Wiggins had the spring he’d hoped to see from the rising sophomore, and Swinney also saw enough from Lukus in nine practices to know the 6-foot-2, 180-pounder will be able to contribute in the fall.
Another early enrollee, Toriano Pride, also had a strong showing this spring to give the Tigers a boost at the position. Pride got the start for the Orange team in the spring game and tied for the team lead with seven tackles, including two for loss.
Jones and Lukus are expected to be be back at full strength for fall camp, which is when Clemson will add another reinforcement at the position with another incoming freshman, Myles Oliver.
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