Clemson Football: Nyles Pinckney, Jordan Williams ready to fill big shoes
Clemson football defensive tackles Nyles Pinckney and Jordan Williams will have to fill some big shoes this season for the Tigers.
Both Nyles Pinckney and Jordan Williams missed the entirety of spring practice with injuries.
Despite missing the practices in March and April, the two Tigers are expected to be the starters when Clemson football begins the 2019 season in a little more than two months.
Pinckney and Williams both sat behind two of the greatest Clemson football players in the history of the program in Christian Wilkins and Dexter Lawrence. Throw in Albert Huggins for good measure, and it’s clear to see that the two defensive tackles have some huge shoes to fill.
Both Wilkins and Lawrence were taken in the first round of this past year’s NFL Draft and were multiple time All-Americans. Filling those holes will not be easy, but there is reason to believe that Pinckney and Williams are up to the task.
They don’t have to be All-Americans. They don’t have to measure up to Christian Wilkins and Dexter Lawrence.
There’s a difference between becoming historical greats and filling shoes. Pinckney and Williams may require some help from linebackers or defensive ends to compensate for what Lawrence and Wilkins were able to do in years past.
But, there’s still great reason to believe that both of those guys can develop into top defensive tackles in the ACC and become high draft picks of their own.
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They’ll be tested in the interior early on. Teams are going to try and attack the inside of the Tigers’ defense, but both Pinckney and Williams are ready to fill the shoes left behind and show the rest of the conference and the nation that Clemson is still going to have one of the most dominant defensive lines in the country.