Clemson football should take hard look at Ohio State DB transfer

The Clemson football program might have an answer when it comes to addressing the depth in the defensive backfield as soon as the 2021 season.

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney was vocal during one of his last press conferences when he told the media that the Tigers would consider the transfer market in the future and they would absolutely look at a cornerback if that player possessed the talent to come in and make an impact right away.

While the most recent name to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal doesn’t necessarily meet all those guidelines, he certainly is someone who the Tigers had interest in during his high school days and is someone that could give an added boost of talent to the defensive backfield.

Ohio State DB Tyreke Johnson announced that he would be entering the NCAA Transfer Portal.

Through two seasons, Johnson made 11 appearances and had eight tackles. He has played behind names like Shaun Wade, Kendall Sheffield, Damon Arnette and Jeff Okudah during his time and he had an opportunity to garner some playing time last season when Cameron Brown went down with an injury.

"“The door again opened for Johnson to kick start his career with the Buckeyes after Brown went down with an Achilles injury against Penn State in the second week of the season. The redshirt sophomore stepped in at corner in a rotation with Banks over the next two games, but struggled in coverage despite a career-high four-tackle performance against Rutgers the week following Brown’s injury. Johnson played fewer than 20 snaps on defense the rest of the year,” Ohio State 247 wrote."

Could a new program in Clemson football be the answer that Johnson is looking for?

Johnson was a 5-star recruit coming out of high school in 2018 and he was highly-recruited by Clemson before ultimately committing to Ohio State.

The Buckeyes have had one of the deepest secondary units in the nation over the last few years and it just seems that he has gotten lost in the depth chart too many times.

He has had his struggles at times, but has also shown promise at times.

While Johnson wouldn’t be coming into Clemson as a guaranteed starter, anyone who has watched his film knows that there is potential there and that you never know what might happen once he is in a new town with new scenery and a different system.

Clemson needs help in the defensive backfield and the Tigers could stand to do worse than addressing their depth issues with a player of Johnson’s caliber. The Tigers have some open scholarship spots, which should be noted as well.

Doing the due diligence on this transfer prospect seems like the right thing to do and all indications point that there would be some interest from Johnson if Clemson football did come calling.