By Season’s End, Clemson Linebacker Duo Will Be Household Names

CLEMSON, S.C. — When people talk about Clemson’s defense coming into the 2022 season, they mention preseason All-Americans Bryan Bresee and Myles Murphy. They talk about Xavier Thomas, K.J. Henry, Tyler Davis and how deep and talent the defensive line is going to be.

And all of that is correct. The Tigers’ defensive front is every bit as good as the 2018 defensive front, if not better.

However, the mistake most are making is the fact they are sleeping on Clemson’s linebackers, in particular, Trenton Simpson and Barrett Carter. These two future stars give the Tigers a one-two punch it has not had at linebacker since the days when Levon Kirkland, Wayne Simmons, John Johnson, Ashley Shepard, and the rest of that deep linebacking corps terrorized opposing offenses in the late 1980s and early ‘90s.

Most people are aware of Simpson’s talents. He has 110 career tackles and has played in 25 games, including 15 starts. But Simpson did all of that while playing the strongside (SAM) position, a spot he handed over to Carter in the spring.

“He has elite talent, but he is a super hard-working kid who really is all about his business,” Clemson defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin said about Carter.

A sophomore, Carter (6-1, 225) has drawn comparisons from the Clemson coaching staff to that of former Tigers that played his position – Dorian O’Daniel and Isaiah Simmons.

“He is really smart and savvy. He really understands football,” Goodwin said. “He prepares really well and takes care of his body. Conditioning-wise, he loves the weight room and he loves the grind. I am excited to see him go display his product (against Georgia Tech).”

Goodwin is also excited to see Simpson (6-3, 240) play his new role at the weakside linebacker (WILL) position. The junior, who some draft analysts consider a first-round prospect in the 2023 NFL Draft, has excelled inside, but he has not lost his ability to cover running backs and tight ends.

For Goodwin, Simpson and Carter give him two linebackers that can do different things. They are skilled enough to play inside or out, which can cause issues for an opposing offense that wants to offset the formations and find a weakness.

Goodwin wants to be able to confuse the quarterback as much as he can and having Simpson and Carter on the field at the same time gives him the flexibility to show different fronts and coverages like never before.

“The combinations of defenses and the multiple looks you can come up with are enormous,” Goodwin said. “You can create multiple looks and then you can change the game plan and they can interchange and go do each other’s jobs.

“One reads line splits and the other is covering. They are not allowing offenses to get tendencies from that standpoint. So, you are being multiple in what you are asking them to do and creating different kinds of coverage variables, as well.”

And creating conversation, that by the end of the 2022 football season people will not just be talking about Clemson’s defensive line, but about the linebackers too.

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