Clemson Football: A way-too-early look at the 2020 Tiger team
The 2019 Clemson football season hasn’t kicked off yet, but we’re going to take a way-too-early look at the 2020 Tiger team.
We are less than two weeks away from the 2019 Clemson football season kicking off.
The Tigers come into the season as one of the heavy favorites to get back to the CFB Playoff and will have a great chance to defend the National Championship from a year ago. Clemson returns stars like Trevor Lawrence, Travis Etienne, Justyn Ross and Tee Higgins on the offensive side of the ball, as well as an offensive line that is slated to be one of the best in the nation.
Clemson football will have to replace several starters off last year’s defense, though, but there is young talent ready to fill those holes.
Before we turn our attention completely to the 2019 Clemson football team, though, we thought it might be beneficial to take a way-too-early quick look at the 2020 Tigers.
A Way-Too-Early 2020 Preview:
On the offensive side of the ball, Clemson will likely lose Tee Higgins and Travis Etienne to the NFL Draft. The Tigers will also lose four starters on the offensive line and Diondre Overton.
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Defensively, Clemson will likely lose AJ Terrell to the NFL Draft and will lose Tanner Muse, Isaiah Simmons and K’Von Wallace. The Tigers will also lose Chad Smith and Denzel Johnson.
Other than Higgins, Etienne and Terrell, there aren’t any guys that we see leaving early for the NFL Draft unless they just have an absolutely crazy breakout season. Also, it should be pointed out that there will likely be a transfer or two (maybe at the QB position) before the start of the 2020 season.
That being said, the Tigers will return Trevor Lawrence and Justyn Ross for their junior seasons. The running back group will feature Lyn-J Dixon, Chez Mellusi, Michel Dukes and talented freshman Demarkcus Bowman, as well as fellow freshman Kobe Pryor, assuming the two stay committed.
The Tigers will be looking for answers on the offensive line with Jackson Carman being the only returning starter, but they do have talent with guys like Jordan McFadden, Will Putnam, Matt Bockhorst, Cade Stewart, Blake Vinson, and a whole host of incoming freshmen who are all rated as 4-stars.
Defensively, Clemson should have one of the deepest defensive lines in the country next season. Not only will every single player on this year’s defensive line be eligible for next season, the Tigers will have talented stars like Bryan Bresee, Myles Murphy, Demonte Capehart and Tre Williams joining the group.
Talk about a packed house.
Clemson will have to look for replacements in the secondary with AJ Terrell and the two starting safeties gone, but the coaches are pretty confident in what they have in defensive backfield talent. Nolan Turner, Joseph Charleston, Andrew Booth, Derion Kendrick, Sheridan Jones and Mario Goodrich will all have opportunities to make plays.
At linebacker, Clemson will have to replace Isaiah Simmons and Chad Smith. Losing Simmons will be a big blow to the Tigers, but it seems that Mike Jones Jr. is coming along nicely and could be ready to fill that Nickel/SAM role by the start of next season. There are also plenty of other talented freshmen who will get a shot at playing time this season in preparation for the 2020 season.
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Overall, it’s clear that the 2020 Clemson football team will look a bit different, but it’s also clear that the Tigers will have plenty of talent. There’s no reason to believe Clemson is going anywhere anytime soon and that can certainly be seen by taking just a quick look at next year’s roster.