The majority of the talk at Clemson this spring has been about replacing its defensive front. It’s understandable considering all four starters earned at least one First-Team All-American honor during their careers.

But replacing Christian Wilkins, Clelin Ferrell, Dexter Lawrence and Austin Bryant isn’t the Tigers’ only concern in 2019. Defensive coordinator Brent Venables also has to replace his two starting linebackers at MIKE (Tre Lamar) and WILL (Kendall Joseph), as well as three key reserve linebackers in J.D. Davis, Judah Davis and Jalen Williams.

So, it has been a busy spring for Venables, who also coaches Clemson’s linebackers.

“That has been a really good group all spring. For the most part, they know what to do,” Venables said. “They have done a good job managing things. I’m excited about the group. We got a few more guys coming in this summer. I’m hoping there will be a couple of those guys that can contribute.”

Those guys checking in this summer are LaVonta Bentley, Bryton Constantin, Keith Maguire, Kane Patterson and Greg Williams.

As for who has played well this spring, Venables highlighted a couple of guys … Isaiah Simmons, James Skalski, Shaq Smith, Baylon Spector, Jake Venables and Regan Upshaw. He also said Chad Smith has played well since he got back from injury.

Venables reported on Wednesday Smith missed about three-fourths of the spring with a sprained neck.

“It is good to get him back, but a lot of time there we did not have him,” the Clemson coach said. “So, six of our top seven or eight linebackers were out from what we had a year ago at the end of the season.

“But I was really proud of those guys. They had a really good spring.”

Clemson will conclude spring drills on Saturday when it hosts it’s annual Orange & White Game at Death Valley in Clemson. More than 50,000 fans are expected in Tigertown. The game will also be televised on ESPN2. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m.