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Clemson Football: The highest-rated cornerbacks in the transfer portal

By John Chancey

Clemson special teams and cornerbacks coordinator Mike Reed during Clemson Media Outing & Open House at the Allen N. Reeves Football Complex in Clemson Tuesday, July 18, 2023.
Clemson special teams and cornerbacks coordinator Mike Reed during Clemson Media Outing & Open House at the Allen N. Reeves Football Complex in Clemson Tuesday, July 18, 2023. /
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Clemson Football is blessed to have one of the best cornerback coaches in the nation. Mike Reed has been a rock for this defense through several changes. He continues to do a great job identifying talent and recruiting it to Clemson.

This should put it in perspective for you. Toriano Pride, a cornerback in Clemson’s Class of 2022, recently decided to transfer. He had been passed on the depth chart by members of the Class of 2023.

247Sports has Pride listed as the second-best prospect at the cornerback position that has entered the portal. I think that speaks to the talent Reed has collected in his group.

The flip side of that is if 247 is correct, then there might not be much chance that the Tigers could recruit a transfer cornerback that would be an upgrade over Pride. By 247’s reckoning, there is only one candidate ranked higher than Pride, and he is a name the Tigers are familiar with.

The numbers would suggest that it would be a good idea to look at a cornerback transfer this season. These are the returning players on Morgan Thomas’s chart.

  • Jaedyn Lukus – Junior
  • Myles Oliver – Redshirt Sophomore
  • Avieon Terrell – Sophomore
  • Shelton Lewis – Sophomore
  • Branden Strozier – Redshirt Freshman
  • Corian Gipson – Freshman
  • Tavoy Feagin – Freshman

There are seven in the cornerback group right now, and in the past that has been around where they want that number to be, but you’ll notice that the group isn’t big on experience.

Additionally, Oliver has been mired with medical issues. Though he is the second-most tenured player behind Lukus, he has barely seen the field.

The three freshmen in 2023 – Terrell, Lewis, and Strozier – played well but Clemson is one injury away from relying on true freshmen Gipson and/or Feagin in the rotation if Oliver isn’t up to the task.

Maybe Gipson and Feagin will be ready like this season’s freshmen. Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to consider a cornerback transfer as an insurance policy.

Here are the top cornerbacks in the transfer portal that haven’t announced a destination.

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