There isn’t a better duo coming back at linebacker in college football next season than Clemson’s tandem of Jeremiah Trotter Jr. and Barrett Carter, both of whom were All-America honorees last season.

Trotter and Carter are certainly two of the nation’s best players at their position, and Pro Football Focus ranks both of them among the top five returning linebackers in college football for the 2023 season.

PFF this week published an early look at the top returning players at the linebacker position, ranking Trotter as the best returning linebacker in the country and Carter at No. 5.

Trotter earned second-team All-America honors from the Associated Press as a sophomore in 2022, when he led team in tackles (92) and tackles for loss (13.5), tied for the team lead in sacks (6.5) and added six pass breakups, a forced fumble and an interception (returned 35 yards for a touchdown) over 14 games (all starts).

The New Jersey native was one of only three Power Five players in 2022 to reach at least 13 tackles for loss, six sacks and return an interception for a touchdown.

“The son of former All-Pro linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Sr., the sophomore linebacker has lived up to his father’s name and then some,” PFF’s Max Chadwick wrote.

“The younger Trotter excels on passing plays, as he was the only Power Five linebacker with 80-plus grades as a pass-rusher and in coverage. Trotter was second in that same group in both passer rating allowed (42.9) and open target rate allowed (47.6%).”

Carter, meanwhile, was a fourth-team All-America honoree from Phil Steele as a sophomore last season. He tied for third on the team with 77 tackles (10.5 for loss) as credited by the coaching staff, to go with 5.5 sacks, eight pass breakups, two interceptions and two forced fumbles in a unit-high 832 snaps over 13 games (all starts).

Prior to Carter and two others in 2022, the last two Power Five conference players to reach 10 tackles for loss, five sacks, two forced fumbles and two interceptions in a season were Georgia’s Nakobe Dean in 2021 and Clemson’s Isaiah Simmons in 2019, years in which both players won the Butkus Award as the nation’s top linebacker.

“With two linebackers cracking the top five of this list, Clemson easily has the best linebacking corps in the country heading into next season,” Chadwick wrote.

“Carter is one of college football’s most well-rounded linebackers. The sophomore was one of three in the Power Five with 75-plus grades as a run-defender, pass-rusher and in coverage. His seven combined interceptions and forced incompletions were tied for the most among FBS linebackers as well.”

Dear Old Clemson has added the Tiger Sack Pack to our online store.  Save by getting the Two Pack of signed cards from two of the nation’s top defensive ends, Myles Murphy and Xavier Thomas.

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Dear Old Clemson is doing NIL the ‘Clemson way’, but we need your help to make sure we build a sustainable, repeatable model that will help keep Clemson competitive with the other top programs around the nation.

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