Clemson Football: Will Defense Be an Issue for the Tigers in 2015?

After a shaky performance in last Saturday’s spring game, some of the high hopes for the Clemson Tigers defense have dwindled. With so much star power and experience missing from last year’s roster, some of the criticisms are valid. The notion that this unit will take a huge step back in 2015 is flat out ridiculous, though.

The Tigers defense will have another productive season because they have more experience than people realize. Also, the guys that have to step up and prove themselves this season have a lot of potential. This unit will not put up the same kind of numbers as last year, but defensive coordinator Brent Venables will not allow this unit to have a big drop-off in production.

More Experience Than People Give Them Credit For

I get it. The Tigers lost a lot of experience on the front seven. Vic Beasley, Grady Jarrett and Stephone Anthony are all gone, but this unit still returns experienced players. At least more than people are giving them credit for.

The secondary looks largely the same, headlined by Mackensie Alexander and Jayron Kearse. Jadar Johnson, T.J. Green, Cordrea Tankersley and Korrin Wiggins are all young guys that benefited from playing significant snaps last season.

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Ben Boulware and B.J. Goodson are the projected starters at the weak side and middle linebacker positions, and that duo combined for 582 snaps and eight starts last season. Bleacher Report analyst Michael Felder thinks Boulware could be a breakout star this fall.

The Tigers have a lot of bodies to possibly throw in on the defensive line. Carlos Watkins, D.J. Reader and Shaq Lawson all played over 130 snaps in 2014, so they are not your typical first-year starters. Venables rotated his defensive linemen enough last year to give them meaningful playing time.

The one thing that differs from last season is the amount of depth the Tigers have up front, but solid recruiting makes that transition much easier.

Good Recruiting Makes the Turnover Easier

Head coach Dabo Swinney had the fourth-best recruiting class in 2015 according to ESPN, and that influx of talent is going to start paying off.

RICHARD SHIRO/Associated Press

Stars graduate and must be replaced. That’s the nature of college football. Beasley can’t hang around at defensive end forever, so the goal is to find the next guy that can contribute. The Tigers have brought in plenty of defensive line talent with the last two recruiting cycles, so the next Beasley or Jarrett could be there just waiting for an opportunity.

Austin Bryant, Clelin Ferrell, Richard Yeargin, Albert Huggins and Christian Wilkins were all highly touted high school recruits that have been brought in the last two years.

Experience is undeniably a huge asset to have when it comes to college football, but at the end of the day the players still have to play. And those players that will have the opportunity to contribute for Clemson this season are very talented.

Venables….Enough Said

Forgive me for bringing back this memory, but remember that empty feeling in your stomach after the 2012 Orange Bowl? After West Virginia hung 70 points on a depleted Clemson defense?

The unit that played that game and the defense that has been on the field since Venables’ arrival are complete opposites. They are more fundamentally sound, and they play with much more intensity.

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That’s another reason why you shouldn’t be worried about the Clemson defense in 2015. Venables is one of the top defensive coordinators in the country, and he is more than capable of getting a productive season out of this group.

Per David Hood of TigerNet.com, Venables was happy with the way the spring practices went. “There are a bunch of thing that you can nitpick about today, (Saturday’s spring game) but overall I thought we had a really strong spring. We will have an opportunity to have a strong defense.”

Not a Top-Ranked Unit, But Not a Liability

The thing that we can take away from last Saturday’s spring game is to not take much away from it. As fans we put a lot of stock into the game, but in reality it’s just another spring practice. Jumping to the conclusion that the Tigers defense is going to be a liability this year and basing that assumption off a scrimmage in April is foolish.

Clemson’s defense will be just fine in 2015. New guys will have to step up and prove themselves, but those guys are either experienced from backup roles a year ago, or they’re 4-star recruits just waiting to get on the field. It won’t be a top-ranked unit again, but this group will be better than expected.