Clemson’s reloaded defense looks better than ever and that’s terrifying for opponents

Clemson lost three defensive linemen to the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft but the Tigers reloaded and are showing signs they may be even better.

If you thought Clemson’s defense would take a step back after losing Clelin Ferrell, Christian Wilkins and Dexter Lawrence to the NFL Draft, you’d be making a safe assumption.

Losing three first-rounders to the NFL in one offseason would normally cripple the team the following year. But Clemson is not a normal team. In fact, the Tigers are just as dominant without that trio and that’s scary for the rest of college football to think about.

The sample size is limited to the team’s first three games of the season, which came against Georgia Tech, Texas A&M and Syracuse, but the production compared to the first three of last year is staggering. It’s also important to note, Texas A&M is the toughest team they’ll see all year and has a stud at quarterback in Kellen Mond. Syracuse was the toughest ACC opponent on the schedule this year and a team that gave the Tigers fits the last two years with Dino Baber’s offense.

Clemson shut them down and made it look too easy.

According to ESPN’s David Hale, who presented the statistical breakdown, these numbers should terrify the rest of the ACC as well as Alabama, Oklahoma and Ohio State who may face them in the College Football Playoff.

• Through the first three games last year, Clemson had 12 sacks. They have 14 this year.
• Clemson had 30 tackles for loss last year. They have 26 this year.
• Clemson allowed 7.08 yards per dropback last year compared to a paltry 4.38 this year.

What does all that mean? You don’t need to be an analytics nerd to know the Clemson front seven is doing work and while the names of the players changed, the one constant is defensive coordinator Brent Venables.

Venables, 48, has been the Clemson defensive coordinator since 2012. He’s previously worked under Bill Snyder at Kansas State and was Bob Stoops’ long-time defensive coordinator at Oklahoma from 1999-2011. He won a BCS Championship with the Sooners and has won a pair with Clemson. He’s also won the 2016 Broyles Award, given annually to the nation’s top assistant coach.

He’s had opportunities to jump at head coach opportunities, but to this point, has turned them down to stick at Clemson, where he’s one of the nation’s highest-paid assistants. He’s been worth every penny as shown by his ability to recruit, develop, coach and reload. Good coaches can do a combination of these, but the great ones can do all of them. Venables does all of them and makes it look easy.

How many other schools could lose three first round picks on a positional unit and not only experience a dramatic drop in production but get better?

Oklahoma can do that at quarterback where they went from Baker Mayfield to Kyler Murray to Jalen Hurts.

Alabama has shown they can do that at running back, linebacker and the defensive backfield.

Ohio State has shown the ability to reload on the fly.

And now Clemson is doing it with a unit that features sophomore defensive lineman Xavier Thomas who is going to be a first-round pick when he enters the draft. He has two sacks and three tackles for loss so far this year and looks like he’ll be following in the footsteps of Ferrell, Vic Beasley and Gaines Adams.

Isaiah Simmons is a versatile 6-foot-2, 230-pound hybrid linebacker/safety who makes plays all over the field. He’s a nightmare to defend. He’s a headache for opposing offensive coordinators to scheme against. He’s another future first-rounder who instantly stands out.

Junior linebacker James Skalski and senior linebacker Chad Smith aren’t quite household names nationally yet, but give it a few more weeks, and they will be.

The same goes for the next wave of great Clemson defenders. Freshman starting defensive tackle Tyler Davis, a former four-star recruit, who already has 10 tackles and 1.5 sacks. He’s going to be special. Former five-star recruit and No. 14 overall recruit, defensive end, KJ Henry has shown flashes of brilliance with 1.5 sacks and eight tackles in limited duty.

So if you thought there would be an eventual drop-off along the Clemson front, you are going to be waiting for a long time. It’s just not happening. Certainly not as long as Venables is coaching the defense and Swinney is the head coach and recruiting at a level previously unprecedented at Clemson.

Clemson has a future No. 1 pick in quarterback Trevor Lawrence who has a cast of future first-rounders around him in Travis Etienne, Tee Higgins and Justyn Ross. The offense sells tickets and generates highlight after highlight. But don’t overlook this no-name, reloaded and dominant defense.

In an era of spread offenses and high-scoring affairs, defenses still win championships, and Clemson looks on their way toward another one.