The Clemson football linebacker unit will have some new faces this year, but the group has a chance to be special as we head into the spring.
Clemson football lost two starting linebackers in Kendall Joseph and Tre Lamar off of last year’s National Championship team, as well as twins JD Davis and Judah Davis.
So, what will that mean for the Tigers in 2019? Lots of new faces.
As we continue our preview of each Clemson football positional unit heading into spring practice, let’s take a look at what to expect out of the linebackers.
What to watch for:
You’ve got a ton of talent, but not much experience at linebacker this season.
It all starts with Isaiah Simmons. Simmons, who chose to return to school instead of entering the NFL Draft, will presumptuously be the starting strong-side linebacker (SAM or SLB)/nickel position for this season.
Simmons is going to be one of the unquestioned leaders of this 2019 defense, in my opinion, and I expect to see big things from him. He has done a great job playing that position and I think you’re going to see him take even bigger steps forward this year.
After Simmons, though, we’ve got some new faces.
I expect that Jamie Skalski will get the nod as the starter at middle linebacker (MIKE) and Shaq Smith will get the nod at weak-side linebacker (WILL) to start spring practice. They will be facing competition, though, from guys like Chad Smith, Mike Jones Jr., Jake Venables and Baylon Spector. It will be interesting to see how some of these guys perform.
In addition to those returners, you’ve got several talented freshmen- like Kane Patterson and Vonta Bentley, Bryton Constantin and Keith Maguire- that will be competing for playing time as well. I really like Bentley and think he could find a way to contribute sooner rather than later.