Jadar Johnson is a confident young man. Despite playing behind two guys who are now in the NFL, the Orangeburg, South Carolina native felt he was good enough to play last year as well. It’s because of that confidence Johnson says the media and fans will be wrong about what they have been saying about the Clemson secondary.

“There will not be a drop off at all. I feel like the guys we have this year are just as good as last year’s,” the safety said.

The Tigers return just one starter from last year’s secondary – senior cornerback Cordrea Tankersley. Johnson, a senior as well, will be one of the new starters on the back end of the defense as Clemson has to replace cornerback Mackensie Alexander and safeties T.J. Green and Jayron Kearse. All three players were selected in April’s NFL Draft.

Prognosticators have predicted the Tigers will be vulnerable and more exposed this year because of all the new faces.

“We don’t listen to none of that. That’s just part of it. That’s part of the game,” Johnson said. “We know that’s what comes with it. We are just worrying about what we need to do. We come out here and work every day, and we will show ya’ll.”

So far so good for the secondary as defensive coordinator Brent Venables has liked what he has seen thus far, though there is still a long way to go between now and the Auburn game on Sept. 3.

Johnson says he has been impressed with what he has seen out of new guys Trayvon Mullen and K’Von Wallace.

“Those guys look real good. I really like Trayvon Mullen,” he said. “K’Von Wallace, he is pretty serious, too. I don’t feel like he is on the level Trayvon Mullen is on right now, but he is taking it very serious and he is the film room more than a lot of the older guys.”

Johnson should know better than anyone. He is in the film room with the freshman. It’s just another step he is trying to take as a leader in the secondary and on the defense as a whole.

“Now that I’m stepping into more of a leadership role and I have a chance to start, I feel like it is more on my shoulders to lead. It’s something to come out and work for,” he said.

“I feel like I have to be more of a leader. I have tendency to fall back sometimes, but I need to start leading. I try to lead by example a lot, but I need to be a little more vocal. As far as on the field, I need to stay in that playbook and that will take me where I want to go,” Johnson continued. “The snaps that I got were pretty good. I felt like I should have received more, but just the snaps that I got, I felt that was enough experience for me to feel comfortable when I get out there.”

In his career, Johnson has played in 39 games, while starting one. He has taken 571 snaps, including 231 last year. Though he has had limited snaps, the 6-foot-1, 205-pound safety is second on the team in career interceptions with four.

Tankersley leads the team with five interceptions.

“Knowing my capabilities and what I can do, I felt like I could have been just as good as the starters were last year. I’m not taking anything away from them because they are pretty good guys, but I felt like I was just as good as them,” Johnson said. “But, sometimes you have to wait your turn. Only two safeties can go out there at a time so that’s just how it goes.”

And Johnson’s confident he will be one of those two safeties this year.