By Heath Bradley.

By Heath Bradley

Clemson will lose three members of its secondary following the 2012 season, and those three players have meant a lot to Clemson over their time.

Xavier Brewer embodies what it means to be a Clemson Tiger, he has always put the team first, offering to play whatever position for however many snaps was necessary to best help the team. As a player who has spent time at every position in the secondary, his leadership will be hard to replace.

Rashard Hall, a player who exploded onto the scene as a freshman in 2009, has become consistent with his knack for intercepting the long ball. His leadership will also be hard to replace, a player who plays the game the right way, he is looked up to by his younger teammates.

The third member, Jonathan Meeks, has made quite the statement over his career for the Tigers. A player capable of making big plays has made many key interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown in 2012, as well as being a physical force for the Tigers on the back end of the defense.

The Clemson secondary was decimated by injuries in 2012, losing Martin Jenkins for the season during fall camp, as well as Darius Robinson midway through the season. Bashaud Breeland also missed time due to injury.

All of these players should be back at 100 percent for 2013, which will come as a welcome sight to Brent Venables and Charlie Harbison. Younger Tiger corners did well in filling in for these veterans in 2012. Garry Peters and Cortez Davis gained valuable experience against some of the nation’s top receivers as the season progressed, experience that will only benefit them heading into 2013.

Robert Smith did not log many snaps for the Tigers at safety in 2012, but he will be relied on in 2013 as the only returning Tiger to spend most of their career at safety.

The wild card for this group will be Travis Blanks, an ultra-talented player. Blanks spent most of 2012 as a hybrid linebacker. He will now be expected to transition into a starting role at safety. Blanks made multiple big plays in the passing game in 2012, breaking up passes and offering a physical force across the middle.

Hopefully he will be able to make a smooth transition to the safety position and become a playmaker in the Clemson secondary.

The Tigers will also look for a freshman, whether it is redshirt freshman Ronald Geohagan or one of the talented incoming freshmen to also make an impact in 2013.