After a down season in 2019, the Clemson defensive front is now back to wreaking havoc on opposing offensive lines.
Freshmen Bryan Bresee and Myles Murphy have brought an influx of talent along the defensive line, making it once again a strength of this Clemson football team. This despite the fact that both starting defensive ends Justin Foster and Xavier Thomas have yet to suit up.
Through the first two games of the season, the Tigers have already accumulated 10 sacks, all but three coming from the front four. Considering one of those games was against an offense that rarely throws the ball, those numbers a pretty impressive, albeit against weaker competition.
In fact, to this point, no defensive line in the country has graded out higher than the Clemson front four.
Myles Murphy already has two sacks and five tackles for loss. Reagan Upshaw has a sack and a half and two tackles for loss in limited action. Bryan Bresee has half a sack, half a tackle for loss, and is also credited with a blocked field goal. Greg Williams, DeMonte Capehart, and KJ Henry all have a sack.
However, while the numbers may not suggest it on the surface, it just might be defensive tackle Jordan Williams who is off to the hottest start. Pro Football Focus has Williams as the highest graded defensive tackle in the country at the moment.
In his first two career starts against Wake Forest and The Citadel, Williams graded out at 90.5 according to PFF. He has three hurries in just 18 pass rush attempts against Wake Forest, and was even better against the option oriented Citadel.
With Foster expected back after the bye week and Thomas also expected back sooner rather than later, this group is only going to get stronger as the season progresses. As one certain head coach likes to say every now and then, there’s no doubt the best is yet to come.
