Clemson Football Spring Game Primer: Cornerbacks

The Clemson Tigers will play their spring football game on Saturday, April 9 at 1 p.m.  The game will be televised by the ACC Network.

When: April 9 at 1 PM, Clemson Memorial Stadium

Position Coach: Mike Reed – With the departures of Brent Venables and Robbie Caldwell, Coach Reed becomes the most tenured assistant coach on the staff entering his tenth season. 2022 will present him with a fresh challenge as he replaces both starting corners from 2021.

Who is playing: Sheridan Jones (SR), Nate Wiggins (SO), Toriano Pride (FR-Early Enrollee)

Who isn’t playing: Malcolm Greene (JR), Jeadyn Lukus (FR-Early Enrollee), Myles Oliver (FR)

Questionable: Fred Davis (JR) – Davis started spring in green. It didn’t sound like he would play in the game, but recently we have seen mixed signals.

What we can expect for the spring game: Davis is participating in spring drills, so he is getting valuable practice time even if he doesn’t play in the Spring Game. Lukus is an early enrollee but was injured during a practice and will sit out the spring game. If Davis doesn’t play, there will be three scholarship corners – Jones, Wiggins & Pride – to man four starting positions in the game, so we can expect some safeties to get time cross-training at corner. We will also see walk-on corners get playing time.

What we can expect for next season: The Tigers have three primary candidates in Jones, Wiggins and Davis for two starting cornerback positions. Jones has the most experience, and looks to establish himself as a leader for the group this spring. Greene appears to be the most likely candidate for the nickelback job, and he has experience as a hybrid safety as well.

While Oliver is considered a developmental prospect who will almost certainly redshirt in 2022, Pride and Lukus are both expected to compete for immediate playing time and will be relied upon for depth in the case of injuries. We wouldn’t rule out the possibility that they could challenge for a starting job – they are both very talented – but it isn’t likely.

It will be hard to replace Andrew Booth and Mario Goodrich. Both will likely be on an NFL roster in 2022. Fortunately for Reed, Clemson has a wealth of talent and experience on the defensive line. If the ends and tackles can disrupt the opponent’s passing game, it will give the new starting corners time to acclimate.

As noted earlier, other players have cross-trained at corner in the past. It gives the defense an advantage to have players that can flex between positions after the snap. The offense can’t always completely read the defensive scheme until it’s too late. We can expect that cross training to continue.