Tyler Davis will be the best DL in Clemson football history
Clemson football has become synonymous with producing some of the best college football defensive linemen over the last decade and they are just getting started.
No Clemson football fan will ever forget the Power Rangers any time soon. If you are new to the Clemson family, I am talking about Dexter Lawrence, Christian Wilkins, Austin Bryant, and Clelin Ferrell. However, Clemson’s defensive line fortunes go all the way back to William “Refrigerator” Perry in the early 80s.
When you look at the history of the Clemson defensive line, the lineage of great players is astounding. From Perry in the 80s, Vance Hammond and Rob Bodine in the 90s, the late Gaines Adams in the mid-2000s and of course the last decade with Grady Jarrett, DJ Reader, Vic Beasley, and the aforementioned Power Rangers. There are a lot of guys not mentioned in between as well.
However, Tyler Davis has a real chance to be better than any of them and that is obviously saying a whole lot.
When Davis started the season against Georgia Tech, he became the first true freshman to start his first game at defensive tackle since 1974 when Jeff Mills was in the lineup. Given the history of talent that Clemson has had, that should tell us all how great his potential is.
Not only did Davis start every game as a freshman this year, but he also had eye-popping numbers as well. He ended his freshman campaign with 10.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks. Christian Wilkins only had 18 tackles for loss and 10 sacks for his entire four years Clemson career. Grady Jarrett and DJ Reader combined for a total of nine sacks during their college careers.
There is a lot of attention being put on the newly arriving Clemson football Tigers in the 2020 class and there should be. Between Bryan Bresee, Demonte Capehart, Tre Williams, and Myle Murphy, this will end up being the greatest defensive line class that Clemson has ever inked.
However, Tyler Davis will end up being the greatest defensive lineman that has ever put on Clemson football helmet and we should appreciate what we have while we have it because he will be gone before we know it.