B.J. Goodson was arguably the most versatile linebacker of the Dabo Swinney Era.

The Lamar product played all three positions during his four-year career. The starting MIKE linebacker during Clemson’s run to the National Championship game, Goodson led the team with 108 tackles and was first among linebackers with 5.5 tackles for loss.

Before 2015, he had 45 tackles over 311 snaps in 32 games. All six of his career starts were during his junior season, when he played SAM linebacker.

Brent Venables has plenty of candidates to take over for Goodson at MIKE, but most are young and inexperienced.

The first and maybe the most obvious candidate is WILL linebacker Ben Boulware, who was third on the team with 82 tackles and fourth with eight tackles for loss. Though Boulware has spent most of the last two years on the weak-side, he’s certainly capable of playing in the middle.

However, Boulware will be a senior this fall. If he takes over the middle, you’re setting yourself up for the same thing again next year. But only time will tell on Venables’ course of attack.

According to the 2015 depth chart, redshirt freshman Kendall Joseph is next in line. He didn’t play a lot last season. Before the title game, he he logged 58 snaps. The final season count has him down for seven games and six tackles. The former three-star recruit from BHP was ranked by 247 as the No. 17 overall player in the state for the class of 2014.

The next couple of options are freshmen five-stars: Tre Lamar and Shaq Smith.

Rivals’ final rankings had Lamar as the No. 16 overall player in the class of 2016 and the fourth-best prospect from the state of Georgia. The 6-3, 240-pounder from Roswell arrived to Clemson earlier this month, after playing the Under Armour All-American game.

Smith is another Rivals five-star, but he’s listed as an outside linebacker, while Lamar is classified as inside. The No. 6 overall prospect, Smith spent his last year of high school at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., but he hails from Baltimore. Like Lamr, Smith arrived to Clemson after the Under Armour game.

If you haven’t already order your copy today of Guts & Glory – Tales of Clemson’s Historic 2015 Football Season to help you celebrate and remember this special season.