Rising Stars: Clemson Linebackers Prepare to Shine in 2023 College Football Season
Clemson opened football practice on Friday in preparation for the Labor Day night clash with the Duke Blue Devils, and linebacker Barrett Carter was one of two players (along with 2022 All-ACC running back Will Shipley) made available to the media.
Carter and roommate Jeremiah Trotter Jr. are arguably the best linebacker duo in college football for 2023. The juniors are projected to be preseason All-Americans, preseason Bronko Nagurski Trophy (an award given to the best defensive player in college football) nominees, and 2024 first-round NFL Draft prospects unanimously by football analysts.
Carter and Trotter are aware of the expectations and projections, but they're focused on being the best individually only to achieve team goals.
"Be the best version of ourselves every day," Carter said of all the preseason hype bestowed on the duo. "If the numbers are whatever people say [and] we are the best, then that's up to them.
"We just want to do all we can for the team," continued Carter on Friday. "Just help us come out with some wins at the end of the day. We want to win the national championship. So, if that requires me and Trot (Trotter) having zero tackles or 20 tackles a game and so be it."
For the Tigers to be among the best defenses in the country and the unit to flourish, Wade Woodaz must fill the shoes of former All-ACC linebacker Trenton Simpson, who was selected 86th overall (Round 3) by the Baltimore Ravens in the 2023 NFL Draft. The 6-foot-4, 232-pound sophomore had 20 tackles (5.5 for loss), 1.5 sacks, three pass breakups, a forced fumble, and a blocked punt in 14 games (one start) in 2022.
Carter talked about the growth he's seen in Woodaz on and off the field since the spring of last season.
"When Wade first got here he wouldn't even say a word and now he's yelling at me every day and he's grinding in the weight room and even watching extra film," he noted. "So, I think he's just really getting comfortable in his own skin."
Woodaz arrived on campus weighing 215 pounds, but a year later, he tips the scales at 232. The additional weight is noticeable, according to Carter, but in what other areas has he seen growth in the former three-star recruit?
"He's showing that he's developing within the program and especially like physically, you've seen him," said Carter, who packed on an additional six pounds (225 to 231) himself. "He's much bigger than he was. He's also putting in the work, and I'm glad that you can see that from a physical standpoint, but just mentally too. He's really learning the playbook in all areas."
Carter, Trotter, and Woodaz, as a trio, are as athletic a group of linebackers as you'll find in the country but there are depth concerns within the group. In a perfect football world, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney would prefer to have eight linebackers but with the recent dismissal of redshirt sophomore T.J Dudley, who was slated to back up Trotter, the unit sits at six.
"It’s definitely disappointing to lose a player for sure," Swinney told the media on Friday before practice. "You’re still three deep at either spot there," he said. "So, we just gotta hopefully have a little luck along the way."
Luck is having an injury-free season at the position, where not only numbers are down, but there's a lack of overall experience as well.
Woodaz, a true sophomore, has only 180 snaps under his belt, and Dudley, now at Ole Miss, was only a redshirt freshman. That leaves Kobe McCloud, also a redshirt freshman, as the only returning player at the position, and true freshmen Dee Crayton and Jamal Anderson Jr. to fill the depth chart.
Anderson, the son of former NFL running back Jamal Anderson (Atlanta Falcons), and Crayton practiced this spring. Anderson was credited with four tackles and a tipped pass (that led to an interception), and Crayton had two tackles in the Orange and White game.
Both departed the spring with room to grow physically, Anderson was slight at 6-foot-4, 205 pounds, and Crayton (6'1) weighed 210. Anderson is up to 214 and Crayton gained 15 pounds (225).
McCloud had four tackles in the spring game and is the early candidate to get backup snaps behind Trotter.
What does Carter think of the two freshmen?
"The thing about them that I love is that they're so intentional. They ask questions," he said. "They want to know the ins and outs and why. So, I think when you have that out of young guys it's going to carry them a long way. So just having the eagerness to learn. I think that's going to help them in the future, and definitely create some more depth for us."
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