ESPN analyst sees ‘star’ in Clemson secondary, ‘significant step' for Tiger defense |
Brandon Rink
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- Monday, June 24 2024
ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy is buying stock in the Clemson secondary.
On his podcast recently, McElroy touted a youthful group with an arrow only pointing up. “This group I think is aided, in some ways, by their front-seven. I think their front-seven is one of the best in the sport, so at No. 9 I have the Clemson Tigers," McElroy said in his national secondary rankings. "RJ Mickens is back. Avieon Terrell is back at corner, who I think his best football is ahead of him. Khalil Barnes at the nickel spot, who plays some safety, I think he’s a star. And proved that last year with some of the opportunistic plays he made at times last year. I mean goodness, gracious – he had three forced fumbles, three interceptions – he also had a fumble recovery he took 42 yards for a touchdown. This is a guy who flat-out makes plays. “Then you look at the veterans and have Jeadyn Lukus back, who’s played quite a bit in his career. You look to a Shelton Lewis, a true freshman last year alongside Avieon Terrell, and I feel like this Clemson group – in time – it’s not yet a Top 5 unit because there’s still a few young players like Terrell, Barnes and Lewis, but in time we might be talking about this group as one of the best in the sport. And as I said, the defensive line and the pressure factor is only going to make this group collectively a whole heck of a lot better.” Clemson opener opponent Georgia is there at No. 6, with a returning contributor in former Clemson commitment Daylen Everette. “Georgia, they return only two players off of last year’s team,” McElroy said. “The good news is that Malaki Starks is one of the best in the sport and that’s a great starting point. And when you look at what they bring back, with Daylen Everette at corner, they should be at a good spot there as well. The problem is Everette got picked on a bit at times last year, but when you look at where things were and how things projected, he’s going to be just fine… “I think they’ll be fine, but there’s some question marks there. That’s why they’re not a shoo-in Top 5 in the secondary.” McElroy ranked Clemson No. 8 overall defensively a couple weeks ago. “I think you could make a case that they could be a little bit higher. Maybe,” McElroy said. “Now it’s not a guarantee, but I do think Clemson is poised to take a significant step this year. They do lose Jeremiah Trotter, and they will miss him drastically, but you bring back eight starters on the defense. Yeah, they miss a couple guys for sure. They’ll miss Nate Wiggins…Those guys are definitely difficult to replace…But some of their best players from a year ago were freshmen. I think that’s a pretty significant step up…They should be in a pretty good spot moving forward with the youth that should take a step and the veterans that are holdovers from the previous year. “Plus another year in Wes Goodwin’s system, they should be in a good spot.” Georgia checked in at No. 5 there. Clemson Safety R.J. Mickens Since 2021:
🐅 90.0 PFF Grade
🐅 783 Coverage Snaps
🐅 1 TD Allowed
🐅 5 INTs | 2 PBUs
🐅 41.2 Passer Rating Allowed pic.twitter.com/4chdesi0He
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