In case you haven’t caught on by now, Brent Venables needs more linebackers.

Things should be just fine for the short-term, as long as Ben Boulware and B.J. Goodson don’t need an extended amount of time away from the field.

That’s not to be confused as a knock on the other Mike and Will linebackers on the Clemson roster. Aside from Martin Aiken, who just moved from defensive end, none of the backup Mike and Will linebackers have played a single snap of college ball.

Kendall Joseph is sort of the old man, thanks to his redshirt. The rest of the freshmen — Chad Smith, Jalen Williams, Judah and J.D. Davis — they all arrived in January. Williams and the Davis brothers graduated from high school in 2014, but were signed as greyshirts.

Since the arrival of the true freshmen, Venables’ linebacker group has suffered three departures: Kellen Jones (transfer), Chris Register (position switch) and Korie Rogers (quit). All three played Mike or Will linebacker.

After this season, Goodson’s eligibility will be up, so interior linebackers are a position of need in 2016. Venables had three until Rahshaun Smith decommitted so he could take other official visits.

Clemson remains in the mix to regain the five-star, who had been on board with four-star Tre Lamar and three-star Jamie Skalski.

Over the weekend, Venables grabbed a commitment from 2017 Baylon Spector. The Tigers are projected to add at least 1-2 more linebackers in that haul.

While help is on the way, it’s a critical position for the next couple of cycles. The characteristics Venables looks for in a linebacker reads like a grocery list:

-consistency

-competitive

-instinctual

-tackling

-athletic ability

-playing in space

“Those are, really, the main ones,” he told TCI, during an interview in July.

What’s the difference between the three linebacker positions Clemson utilizes?

“I think Mike and Will are very interchangeable. Mike and Will are more difficult to play, because you’re in traffic and constantly taking on at least one, if not two (blockers) and you’ve got to read and diagnose plays,” Venables said. “Closer to the football, so the margin for error is less. Really takes instincts to be an effective Mike and Will.

“At Sam, it’s mentally easier to play there. Physically, it takes a unique skill set to play out there in space. What you want is a perfect mold of tackler, box player and a coverage guy, a really good coverage guy that you can do multiple things with all in one, so that (position) has a little bit more of a diverse skill set. Can you line him up over the tight end, kick butt and set the edge? Then, can you play out in space with instinct against wide receivers, play man, zone — both, blitz.”

The line between Sam linebacker and nickel cornerback tends to blur. Who’s used and how they’re used is dictated by the offense’s personnel. Down and distance also play a part.

For the last two seasons, Korrin Wiggins has seen a lion’s share of the nickel snaps. An ACL tear during last week’s scrimmage will shelf him for 2015. Travis Blanks is coming back off the shelf after his ACL tear, so it’s plausible that he’ll slide right into his old role and not skip a beat.

“Jayron could do that, if we wanted him to, but he’s really good at where he’s at.

Dorian O’Daniel is a guy who was a running back. I really believe he could be a good box player, if he took the time to learn all the intricacies, but he’s a little bit bigger than Korrin Wiggins,” Venables said.

The position requires confidence.

“It takes some moxie there in all that space and you really want him to do more than one thing,” Venables said.