Spring Review: Clemson Keeps Reloading at Corner
Entering spring, there were some legitimate questions surrounding the Clemson corners. Exiting spring, many of those questions appear to be answered.
Andrew Booth Jr. and Mario Goodrich are both gone, meaning Clemson must replace each of its starting corners from last season's team. Add in the fact that both players earned first-team All ACC honors in 2021, and those shoes that need filling get a little bigger.
However, Mike Reed does have some talented options at his disposal, and it all starts with senior Sheridan Jones, the veteran of the group.
Jones, who has 11 career starts under his belt, has appeared in 38 games over the past three seasons and before tweaking his groin, was putting together what might have been his best spring yet. He's also taken on a much larger role in the leadership department, and Reed has taken notice.
"He's taken the leadership role, he's taken the step which I anticipated," Reed said. "It's a process that most all the corners since I've been here have been able to take. Each year, the load gets heavier and heavier for them. Because as you move up, you become a leader. And that's one of the beauties about playing guys early is they're not new to it when it happens."
Junior Fred Davis II is another guy to keep an eye on. Despite beginning the spring in a green jersey, he finished on a high note, with a strong performance in the spring game.
While it's taken a little time for the former 5-star recruit to settle into playing at the collegiate level, Davis appears to be in the process of taking that jump in his development most were hoping for.
Nate Wiggins could be on the verge of a similar jump. The sophomore played in 11 games during his freshman season, and head coach Dabo Swinney recently sang the praises of his young corner.
“Just talent-wise, he’s as good as we’ve signed here,” Swinney said. “We’re still kind of polishing him up, but he’s a really, really good football player.”
However, as good as some of those other players have looked this spring, it was freshman Toriano Pride that really turned heads. After returning an interception for a touchdown in the second scrimmage of the spring, the 2022 SI99 member also turned in an impressive performance in the spring game.
"People always ask me when I recruit, you know, what's your typical corner? Toriano Pride," Reed said after during the spring. "As far as size, speed, strength, physicality, he has it. I mean if you look at him on the practice field, I mean, he is really what you want."
Reed has shown in the past that he's not afraid to run his freshman out on the field and Pride looks every bit like someone that's going to be hard to keep off the field.
Fellow freshman Jeadyn Lukus was well on his way to having a similar showing this spring, but a shoulder injury would force him to miss the final couple of weeks. Junior Malcolm Greene missed the entire spring, still recovering from an injury sustained last season.
Jason Priester All Clemson
The Tigers, who went 10-3 in 2021 and finished 14th in the final Associated Press Poll, are the fourth team on FanDuel Sportsbook's list to win it all in 2022. Only reigning national champ Georgia (+200), runner-up Alabama (+200) and Ohio State (+800) are ahead of Clemson at +1000.
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