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.
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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. Injuries including a November season-ending ankle injury limited him to 110 snaps last season. He posted a poor PFF grade and was seldom noticeable in those snaps which makes him more of a question mark now than he was when entered as a highly touted prospect.
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Vic Burley likewise was a big-time prospect when he came to Clemson, but that wasn’t just a year ago. Burley is now in his fourth year and has yet to have a breakout. He is 320 lbs with blue chip pedigree and many still believe he will become a major impact player late in his career like KJ Henry and Kevin Dodd did.
Andy Burburija joins Clemson from JUCO after a brief commitment to Nebraska. At Iowa Western Community College, he played as a true freshman as part of a team that played for a National Championship and then as a sophomore he was an NJCAA All-American with 11 sacks and Iowa Western won the National Championship. Unlike Vic Burley, he doesn’t have the size and former top prospect pedigree, but he had loads of production at a lower level.
Clemson also has Champ Thompson and Hevin Brown-Shuler, former 247 3-star prospects who may be ready to step into a larger role.
Kourtney Kelly transferred after two seasons at West Georgia and was set to contribute immediately but tore his ACL in spring practice. Even with that injury, this is a nice group with a decent floor, but they need someone to have a breakout campaign or they’ll lack the kind of dominance that all of Clemson’s best defenses have had. There are plenty of candidates who could do just that, but they’re all unproven and have never done it before.
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Opportunity: Can a cultural reset with hungry portal additions elevate everyone?
Prior to last football season, we got a steady stream of positive reports about players initiating extra workouts and elevating their level of dedication. Now, we’re hearing that there was actually a sense of “entitlement” that needed to be rooted out. With the general avoidance of transfer portal additions, players may have believed if they just stayed out of trouble and waited their turn, they would get to start. Whatever was true, the team went 7-6 and subsequently received the biggest roster shakeup in memory.
On defense, only three starters return – CB Ashton Hampton, LB Sammy Brown, and DE Will Heldt. Of course, last year Clemson and Penn State were popular picks due to their retention and now we’re highlighting the lack thereof as a positive – which I acknowledge is somewhat hypocritical – but there’s certainly an opportunity for reset.
Clemson didn’t infuse the offense with much new talent from the portal, but they certainly did on defense. In the secondary, a new safeties coach will have two new starters as Corey Myrick and Jerome Carter join after being productive and Southern Miss and Old Dominion, respectively. Elliott Washington comes from Penn State to start at cornerback and the defensive line added five new players.
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Coach Tom Allen has “his guys” and a second chance to establish the culture he wants with the players that fit his system. That alone is reason to think this defense can get more out of their talent than they did last year, even if they have fewer NFL prospects.
