Clemson Defense SWOT: Weaknesses & Opportunities
Aug 31, 2024; Berkeley, California, USA; California Golden Bears linebacker Luke Ferrelli (41) during the fourth quarter against the UC Davis Aggies at California Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images They say college football has become a big business and its true. One well-known business technique is called a SWOT analysis.
Inspired by the Talkin’ Yanks podcast, I will bring you a SWOT analysis for Clemson football. In this edition we take the Weaknesses and Opportunities portion for the 2026 Clemson Tiger defense. Weakness : There is no sure-fire NFL talent at defensive tackle.
Peter Woods, Tyler Davis, Bryan Bresee, Dexter Lawrence, and Christian Wilkins are the kind of players you know will be NFL draft picks after just watching a few of their games as true freshmen. These elite talents have been the building blocks of great Clemson defenses for years. Clemson doesn’t have this kind of over-the-top talent advantage in the middle this year.
They have good depth at DT, but they need someone deliver a true breakout season. Markus Strong joins via the portal from Oklahoma and seems likely to start. Although Strong is 2 inches and 20 lbs smaller, he reminds me of DeMonte Capehart in that injuries and great players ahead of him have limited his opportunities.
He had 106 defensive snaps last season. All spring reports are positive and I could see him performing like DeMonte Capehart or Payton Page, but reaching superstar first round NFL draft pick status would be surprising. Amare Adams was a five-star recruit last year so on paper he may have that first round NFL draft pick upside.
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