Last year, Brent Venables and DL Coach Todd Bates had the luxury of one of the best defensive lines in college football. New Coaches Wes Goodwin and Nick Eason will have that luxury this year, plus some.
This group is deep and talented. The DT room brings back Tyler Davis for another year, a big bonus. Although he missed a few games in the middle of the season, Davis finished strong and some thought he would bolt for the NFL. He’s back. Bryan Bresee fell to the injury bug early and spent the rest of the season cheering from the sidelines. He’s back.
When injuries happen, the Tigers have the “next man up” mentality. Thus, the development of Ruke Orhorhoro and Etinosa Reuben took center stage, and they passed with flying colors. The depth of this unit is mind blowing. Tre Williams also got bit by injuries but showed out when he got the chance to play. Payton Page, according to Coach Swinney, is “making a move.” He spent the first year acclimating to the speed of the game and looks ready to be a bigger contributor.
Demonte Capehart came to Clemson a highly rated 4-star but injuries have kept him sidelined. This could be the year he starts to make his presence known.
When Coach Eason left Auburn to take over the defensive line, he brought 4-star former Auburn commit Caden Story with him. Story, 6-4 275, out of the state of Alabama, has a lot of work ahead of him with the talent the Tigers have this year.
Knowing that the NFL or graduation will likely take 3-4 Tigers next year, Clemson went after several 2023 prospects to get them in the pipeline. The staff handed out 12 offers so far in this class to prospects at the DT position, one has committed elsewhere (FSU).
The #1 target here is 5-star Peter Woods out of Alabaster, Alabama. Woods, 6-3 260, is ranked as the 3rd best DT in the 2023 class. Leading his team to the Alabama 7A State Championship, Woods registered 92 tackles, 26 tackles for loss, 11 sacks and 30 “hurries”. Although it’s going to be hard getting him away from Nick Saban, Clemson has a good chance here. The day after Christmas last year, he released his Top 6, which included the Tigers.
The #1 DL in 2023, David Hicks, Allen, Texas, received a Clemson offer last September, but getting him out of grasp of Texas A&M is going to be a tall order. He is most likely going to be staying instate.
5-star Vic Burley, 6-5 276, Warner Robins, GA, is favoring the Tigers right now. As a junior, Burley registered 54 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, 5 sacks and 54 “hurries”. Ranked as the #5 DT in the country, he has received offers from the likes of Alabama, Florida, Georgia and many others.
Big DL Kelby Collins, 6-5 280, released his Top 8 back in October, which included the Tigers. Where does he stand now? The 4-star Collins is ranked as the #9 DL in the country and lists Alabama, Auburn, and Clemson among his 28 offers. As a junior, he racked up 75 tackles, 20 tackles for loss and 12 sacks.
4-star Derrick LeBlanc, Kissimmee, Florida, is the 11th ranked defensive lineman in the 2023 class. Clemson offered back in September last year, made an unofficial visit in October, and developed a relationship with Coach Todd Bates. With 42 offers in hand, the Tigers have work to do with LeBlanc.
A pair of Alabama defensive linemen recently picked up Clemson offers. 4-star Keldric Faulk, 6-5 240, from Highland Home, Alabama, and 4-star Hunter Osborne, 6-3 250, out of Trussville, Alabama. Both have similar body types and have frames to get bigger. Faulk has picked up 30 offers to date while Osborne has 50. It will be interesting to see where their recruiting takes them.
Clemson has offered a trio of defensive linemen from the state of Georgia; 4-star TJ Searcy, 6-5 250, 4-star AJ Hoffler, 6-5 245, and 4-star Darron Reed, 6-5 260. With another year of development at the high school level, all three of these linemen will more than likely end up in the 270-290 range. According to 247, Hoffler is a lean towards Ohio State and Reed is a lean towards FSU. More to come on this group.
Big Jordan Hall, 6-4 300, out of Jacksonville, Florida, picked up a Clemson offer in February, among his 22 offers. He too appears to be leaning towards FSU.
The defensive line position at Clemson, minus the defensive end/edge rushers, is loaded in 2022 and looking to reload in 2023.
