Clemson Football: What to Expect from the LBs in the summer

What should Clemson football fans expect from the linebacker group in the summer? Here’s a look at the positional unit.

The Clemson football linebacker group has had some attrition as of late.

The Tigers lost Tre Lamar to the NFL, though he went undrafted, as well as Kendall Joseph and the Davis twins to graduation. In addition to losing those upperclassmen, Shaq Smith announced that he’d be transferring to Maryland earlier this month after entering the NCAA Transfer Portal.

Smith was expected to be competing for a starting position and was thought to be leading for the WILL position heading into the summer. With him gone, the Tigers will need the veterans still on the roster to step up, as well as a freshman or two to emerge as guys that can play quality snaps during the season.

Here’s a look at what to expect from the linebackers here in the thick of summer.

Summer Expectations: Linebackers

Despite the fact that the Tigers have lost quite a bit in the linebacker core, there is still reason to be optimistic.

Isaiah Simmons returns at Nickel/SAM and is a preseason All-American. He is expected to be a solid first-round pick in next year’ NFL Draft and certainly has the talent and ability to make an impact at the position and be a leader for the Tigers.

Right now, it would seem that Chad Smith is the expected starter at MIKE (middle linebacker) and James Skalski is the expected starter at WILL (weak-side linebacker). Both of these guys are headhunters who have the ability to get in the backfield and make plays at the line of scrimmage. I want to see, especially, how Skalski performs in pass coverage.

He has more athleticism than Ben Boulware, who played the position a few years ago, but still has the same killer instincts. That could prove to be an absolute nightmare for opposing offenses.

Outside of those three, the Tigers have Mike Jones Jr., Jake Venables (both redshirt freshmen) as well as Baylon Spector returning. Currently, I’d expect Jones Jr. to be the backup behind Simmons with Venables playing the MIKE and Spector moving over to WILL after playing as the backup at SAM last season.

Clemson football also has several incoming freshmen, including 4-stars Vonta Bentley and Kane Patterson, who are now on campus. Bryton Constantin could potentially be ready later in the season, but is currently rehabbing an ACL tear he sustained earlier this year. Freshman Keith Maguire is also now on campus and will compete for playing time in the two-deep.

Expect this group to work hard in the summer because there will be a lot of competition in the fall. Besides Simmons, nothing is set in stone, but the two-deep is especially going to be up for grabs between the true-freshmen and redshirt freshmen.