Clemson Football: What to Expect from the DTs in the summer 2019
The Clemson football defensive tackle position has some promise in terms of talent, but not a lot of depth or experience heading into 2019.
Clemson football had two of the best defensive tackles in the history of its program playing beside each other last year in Christian Wilkins and Dexter Lawrence.
The only time in history where the talent measures up to that would’ve been when the Perry brothers- Michael Dean Perry and William “The Refrigerator” Perry- played on the same team for one year in 1982.
As we head into the 2019 season, there is still plenty of talent at the defensive tackle position, but experience is a bit of a question mark.
Summer Expectations: Defensive Tackle
The two projected starters at defensive tackle in 2019 are Jordan Williams and Nyles Pinckney. Unfortunately, neither Tiger was able to participate in spring practice due to injuries. From all accounts, they are both working out and are expected to be back at 100 percent by the time fall camp rolls around.
Behind them, the Tigers have Xavier Kelly and a bunch of freshmen. Darnell Jefferies is a redshirt freshman and the rest- Tyler Davis, Ruke Orhorhoro, Logan Cash and Etinosa Reuben- are all true-freshmen.
Davis had a great spring and is in line to play a ton of snaps as a true-freshmen. As a matter of fact, he may have been the most impressive defensive tackle of the entire spring camp. The other three freshmen had moments, but are still learning the position.
Next. Clemson's DL haul has them set for the future. dark
Right now, it should be expected that the majority of rotation for defensive tackle will feature Williams, Pinckney, Kelly, Davis and Jefferies, though one of the other freshmen could sneak up on Jefferies if he doesn’t put on more weight this summer, which is what Brent Venables openly challenged him to do.