Players who will define Clemson’s 2022 season: Trenton Simpson

Simpson will be one of the best defenders in all of college football.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Tue Jun 21 08:00:06 GMT-04:00 2022

There are just 76 days until the start of the 2022 Clemson season, and we have the ACC Kickoff, Clemson media days, and fall camp all between now and then. In this series, we will take a quick look at the players who will define the season for the Tigers.

I know, I know. Paul Finebaum has declared Dabo Swinney and the Tigers as yesterday’s news, and the rest of the ACC senses blood in the water after last season. But this roster is talented and deep and has to be considered elite. We all know that the Tigers will go only as far as the quarterback play, wide receivers, and offensive line take them, but this is about the individual players who will make – or break – the year.

I’ll start with the guy who I think will be the defensive MVP – linebacker Trenton Simpson. Simpson was third on the team in tackles a year ago (78), and was second on the team in both tackles for loss (12) and sacks (6).

David Hale of ESPN tweeted out Monday that Simpson had 30 quarterback pressures in 90 pass rush snaps in 2021, an unreal pressure percentage of 33.30 percent. For comparison, Clemson’s other top rushers by percentage were Myles Murphy (34-315, 10.80 percent) and Xavier Thomas (38-269, 14.10 percent).

Men Lie..Women Lie..Numbers Don’t…???? https://t.co/kEApYB0z6r
— Trenton Simpson (@TrentonSimpson_) June 20, 2022

He will be even better in 2022. Despite the Tigers having so many dominant defensive linemen and talent in the back end of the secondary, it’s easy to envision Simpson as the leader of the defense. He can rush the passer, he can play the run, and he can drop into coverage and use his speed to effectively cover downfield receivers (and not just tight ends).

Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Wes Goodwin said he wants Simpson to play closer to the line of scrimmage.

“He’s an unbelievable athlete as you guys have seen — explosive, physical, violent, great blitzer, cover guy. Just getting him more involved in the box game,” Goodwin said. “It’s been a process. When you’re out on the edge, your vision is different. You’re looking at things outside in, where, in the box, you have to play with big vision. Just learning how to train my eyes on things to key and how to sort things out.

“There’s a level of patience that comes with that. You can’t be too fast on keys or you will bury yourself in (offensive) linemen and that sort of deal, but he’s progressing right along nicely I think.”

Simpson told us he wants to the best linebacker in the country.

“I want to go out there and have an All-American season, Butkus Award (given to the nation's top linebacker), just go out there and be the best leader I can, and I’m going to lay it all out on the field every game,” Simpson said. “Every day, come to practice, keep building, and everything will take care of itself.

“I know I got what it takes, I have the talent. I’m going to put the work in. So I’m confident. I just have to keep showing up every day in practice. When the season starts, it will show. All the work will show.”

Goodwin said the Tigers will take advantage of Simpson’s many talents.

“We’ll definitely utilize his strengths,” Goodwin said. “No doubt.”

Trenton Simpson’s Clemson bio

Explosive linebacker and edge rusher who enters 2022 credited with 110 tackles (18.5 for loss), 10.0 sacks, three pass breakups and a forced fumble in 837 snaps over 25 games (15 starts).

2021: Ranked third on the team with 78 tackles and finished second in both tackles for loss (12.0) and sacks (6.0) while also adding three pass breakups over 556 snaps in 13 games (12 starts) … earned all-conference selections from PFF (second team) and Phil Steele (third team) … All-ACC Academic Team selection … contributed two tackles vs. No. 5 Georgia … made one tackle vs. SC State … credited with five tackles, including a half-sack, in less than one half of action vs. Georgia Tech … added eight tackles and a pass breakup at NC State … made five tackles (0.5 for loss) and recorded a pass breakup vs. Boston College … added five tackles (one for loss) at Syracuse … contributed four tackles with a sack at No. 23 Pitt … credited with eight tackles (2.5 for loss) and a half-sack vs. Florida State, giving him a sack in consecutive games for the first time in his career … credited by the coaching staff with 13 tackles (3.0 for loss) including 2.0 sacks at Louisville, all career highs, to earn defensive player of the game honors … added five tackles, a pass breakup and a sack vs. UConn, becoming the first Clemson player with at least half a sack in four straight games since Clelin Ferrell in 2018 … recorded 10 tackles (1.5 for loss) and a sack in earning team defensive player of the game honors vs. No. 13 Wake Forest, becoming the first Clemson player with at least half a sack in five straight games since Kevin Dodd in the final five games of the 2015 season … contributed six tackles (one for loss) at South Carolina … added six tackles vs. Iowa State.

2020: Produced an impressive true freshman campaign as he was credited with 32 tackles (6.5 for loss), 4.0 sacks and a forced fumble in 281 snaps over 12 games (three starts) … along with fellow true freshmen Myles Murphy and Bryan Bresee, their four sacks each tied William Perry (4.0 in 1981), Ricky Sapp (4.0 in 2006) and Shaq Lawson (4.0 in 2013) for third-most sacks by a Clemson true freshman all-time … made collegiate debut at Wake Forest, adding one tackle … recorded two tackles including his first career sack vs. The Citadel … contributed six tackles at Georgia Tech … added two tackles vs. Syracuse … made three tackles with a sack and forced fumble vs. Boston College … registered seven tackles (0.5 for loss) at No. 4 Notre Dame … notched his third sack of the season among his two tackles vs. Pitt … added four tackles (one for loss) at Virginia Tech … had two tackles for loss and a sack among his five tackles in ACC Championship Game vs. No. 2 Notre Dame.

Before Clemson: Played for Michael Palmieri at Mallard Creek High School in Charlotte, where he helped his team to a 10-1 record and No. 3 ranking in the state of North Carolina according to MaxPreps … started his high school career as a running back, playing both running back and linebacker in 2019 … led the Mallard Creek defense with 20 sacks … had 44 carries for 371 yards and six touchdowns … named first-team postseason All-American by Sports Illustrated … for his career, recorded 97 carries for 799 yards and seven touchdowns with 8.2-yard average per carry … won the Arnold R. Solomon Award for the North Carolina High School Football Player of the Year from NCPreps.com in 2019 … at the time of his signing, ranked as the No. 13 overall player in the nation by 247Sports, which also listed him as the second-best linebacker and top player in North Carolina … Rivals.com rated him as the No. 26 overall player, the second-best linebacker and top player in North Carolina … ESPN.com ranked him No. 107 overall, the 11th-best linebacker and fourth-best player in North Carolina … listed as the top player in North Carolina by the Charlotte Observer … selected to Under Armour All-America Game … originally committed to Auburn … committed to Clemson on Dec. 14, 2019 and signed with the Tigers four days later … recruited to Clemson by Danny Pearman and Brent Venables.

Personal: Born June 14, 2001 … wore No. 22 in high school … enrolled at Clemson in January 2020 … sports communication major … son of Command Sgt. Maj. Timothy D. Simpson, who served 17 overseas tours from 1994-21 in his decorated career with the U.S. Army Rangers … two-time ACC Honor Roll selection (2020-21).