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Clemson football 2019 Preview By Position: Linebackers

By Shawn Spencer

CLEMSON, SC - NOVEMBER 07: Chad Smith #43 of the Clemson Tigers runs onto the field with his team before their game against the Florida State Seminoles at Memorial Stadium on November 7, 2015 in Clemson, South Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
CLEMSON, SC - NOVEMBER 07: Chad Smith #43 of the Clemson Tigers runs onto the field with his team before their game against the Florida State Seminoles at Memorial Stadium on November 7, 2015 in Clemson, South Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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The 2019 Clemson football season is just a few weeks away from kickoff. Here’s our preview for the linebacker group heading into the year.

The 2019 Clemson football team is currently going through fall camp in preparation for the upcoming season.

The Tigers enter 2019 as one of the favorites to get back to the CFB Playoff. The last time we saw the Tigers on a competitive football field, they were dismantling the Alabama Crimson Tide by a score of 44-16.

That being said, Clemson will have to replace some key contributors off of last year’s National Championship winning team.

Clemson lost two starters at linebacker in Tre Lamar and Kendall Joseph, as well as a couple of key reserves in the Davis twins. Here’s our positional outlook for the linebackers heading into the 2019 Clemson football season.

Depth Chart Projection:

SAM: Isaiah Simmons

  • Mike Jones Jr.

MIKE: James Skalski

  • Jake Venables or Vonta Bentley

WILL: Chad Smith

  • Baylon Spector or Kane Patterson

Linebackers Preview:

The SAM/Nickel position is pretty set heading into fall camp, but other than there’s going to be a lot of competition.

Isaiah Simmons returns as the top hybrid linebacker in the nation and he’ll likely be backed up by Mike Jones Jr., a talented redshirt freshman.

Chad Smith (WILL) and James Skalski (MIKE) are penciled in as the starters at the other two spots, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be any competition. Two talented true-freshmen [Vonta Bentley and Kane Patterson] both will challenge for playing time and I think we could see them in the two-deep before it’s all said and done.

Interestingly enough, Smith was listed as the MIKE starter and Skalski at WILL in the post-spring depth chart, but the two guys have flipped roles so far in fall camp.

Bentley projects as a guy that could play inside because of his physicality and Patterson is a guy that I really like at the WILL because of his versatility.

Next. Early Observations from the start of fall camp. dark

Overall, this group has plenty of talent, but not much experience. It will be interesting to see how the veterans compete with the young freshmen and what this group looks like as we get into regular season play in just a couple of weeks.

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