CLEMSON — Heading into the season, one of the few question marks for No. 4 Clemson comes in the secondary, in particular at safety.
This is the area where the Tigers have to replace R.J. Mickens, one of their best players over the last four seasons. Mickens just wasn’t a safety — he was a football player.
He had one of the best football IQs on the Clemson team and it showed in his play. It is one of the reasons why the Los Angeles Chargers drafted him in last April’s NFL Draft.
However, the Tigers have to move on, and they are trying to do so with a group that head coach Dabo Swinney says is one of the deepest on the roster.
Khalil Barnes and Kylon Griffin were the projected starters at safety for the Tigers coming into camp, but Barnes’ injury and the emergence of guys like Ronan Hanafin, Rob Billings and Kylen Webb have added to the depth, which also includes Ricardo Jones and Tyler Venables.
“When we got a bunch of guys that I trust to go play, it makes me sleep a lot better,” Swinney said. “You are not worried about one guy grabbing an ankle and all of sudden there is a Grand Canyon drop off.”
Hanafin says the veterans, like Venables, Barnes and Griffin have been a huge help getting him and the others ready to play. In return, it has opened up the competition and has all of them competing for not just playing time, but the starting position, as well.
“We all are just climbing that latter and competing for, obviously, that starting job,” Hanafin said. “It has helped us out and we have all become better.”
Hanafin said there has been a lot of back-and-forth on the practice field, as each guy has tried to get the other better, which in turn has made them all better.
“Whether it is first team or second team, I am not going to change anything,” the former wide receiver said. “You just have to have that edge about you all the time. It is up to the coaches to have you where they want you to be.
“You can only control the controllables and that is it.”
Clemson will conclude fall camp on Tuesday with a mid-afternoon practice behind the Allen Reeves Football Complex.