The Clemson football defensive end room is one of the deepest in the country. Here’s a look at our depth chart projection and analysis.
The 2020 Clemson football team is expected to be one of the best in the nation.
The Tigers return a ton of talent and are set to be a force to be reckoned with over the course of the 2020 season.
As we continue our pre-spring position-by-position previews, let’s take a look at the depth chart projection and analysis for the defensive end position.
Spring Depth Chart Projection
DE- Xavier Thomas
DE- Justin Foster or K.J. Henry
Analysis:
Though the Clemson football defensive end room lost Logan Rudolph to retirement, there’s still plenty of talent and depth at the position moving forward.
The Tigers could move one of the redshirt freshmen- Etinosa Reuben, for example- to fill depth, but I think there’s a better chance that we see these five names listed below fill out the depth chart and that we see true-freshman Bryan Bresee work with both the defensive tackles and the defensive ends as a bit of a ‘hybrid.’
Look for Xavier Thomas to win one starting position and for there to be a battle between K.J. Henry and Justin Foster for the other side. Henry and Foster will platoon at one side for much of the season and we’ll see Justin Mascoll get his shot as the back-up to Thomas with true-freshman Myles Murphy likely finding time at both sides.
Overall, there’s plenty of talent and depth for the Clemson football program to have one of the best defensive line groups in the country. The Tigers are going to have a fluid rotation at the position and we’re going to see one of the best performances from the defensive end group that we’ve seen in quite some time, in terms of pass-rushing and setting a hard edge.