By Kaila Burns-Heffner.

As the fifth day of Clemson’s spring practice came to a close, the Tigers are still trying to figure out where the best fit is for all of the remaining personnel on defense.

The 2014 defense was the best in the nation, and with many leaders from that squad entering the NFL Draft, some wonder how the defense will matchup in the upcoming season. Spring ball is the time for the coaches to move around their remaining talent to find the best configuration going into the fall, and flexibility is key.

Clemson lost talented players like Robert Smith, Tony Steward and Stephone Anthony for the coming season, but the next players in line to take over those leadership roles have shown glimpses of excellence in the opportunities that they were given to prove themselves on the field last season.

“Everybody is talking about a drop off, but a lot of the guys that we have coming back have played a lot of football, so I don’t see much of a drop off occurring,” said Korrin Wiggins. “We had the number one defense last year and we want to duplicate that.”

Wiggins is one player who showed that he is capable of taking over for the seniors who have left. Although he is listed as a safety, Wiggins mentioned that he has been taking the first team reps at the Nickel/SAM position and second team reps at the safety position this spring. Wiggins has made impact plays in his six career starts in the 2014 season. He racked up 40 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss in 521 snaps and made an interception in both the Georgia State game and the Russell Athletic Bowl win over Oklahoma.

“I just like playing football really,” said Wiggins. “Whatever the coach wants me to play, I’ll do it.”

“They all come pretty natural to me,” he continued.

The versatility that the Clemson defensive backs possess is beneficial for the rearrangement of positions before the season starts in the fall. It also helps with the depth at those positions, and the competition for the starting roles seem to be bringing out the best in all of the contenders.

“There’s a bunch of us that can play multiple positions. We all have the mental ability to learn those positions, so we all kind of rotate throughout the positions,” Wiggins said.

With many veteran players absent on the defensive side of the ball, the more experienced players have had to step up into leadership roles to help guide the youngest members through their transition into college football. Wiggins mentioned that he likes to lead the younger players by setting a good example.

“I try to take a leadership role by leading by example,” he said. “I’m not really a vocal guy, but when I have to be vocal, I’ll say something. I just try and take the young guys in to watch film and what not.”

Wiggins seems to be confident that him and the remaining players will not allow the defense to take a step back from where they were last season, and that the versatility of Clemson’s defensive personnel will help the Tigers excel.