Clemson added a few late pieces to its 2026 recruiting class on Wednesday, finishing with a class of 23 prospects.

As documented previously, both On3 and the 247 Composite rank the class No. 20 nationally. Those numbers do not include transfer additions.

While that ranking is certainly a little lower than it probably needs to be, that doesn’t mean the news is all bad. The staff absolutely hit on some guys in this class, and the Tigers should be better for it.

On Friday, we went position by position on the offensive side of the ball, where Clemson filled a lot of needs with quality players. Today, we take a look at the additions on the defensive side of the ball.

Defensive Tackle: Three-star Kam Cody

After losing Peter Woods and DeMonte Capehart to the draft, the Tigers signed just one interior defensive lineman from the high school ranks. Then, projected starter Stephiylan Green bolted to LSU via the transfer portal after the season.

Losing three impact guys and bringing in just one high school kid isn’t ideal. It’s also worth noting that Clemson did suffer a decommitment from four-star Keyshawn Stancil fairly late, as well.

Fortunately, the staff was able to land two in the portal, with both having multiple years of eligibility remaining. That certainly helps mitigate Stancil ending up at Miami. Not to mention missing on Bryce Perry-Wright, who was a strong Clemson lean at one time.

As for Cody, he was a wrecking ball in high school, living in the opposing backfield, and was probably a little undervalued by the recruiting services. He’s likely going to need a year in the weight room, but he’s an interesting prospect. Certainly wouldn’t bet against him being a part of the rotation after a year or two in the program.

Having said that, the Tigers wanted to take multiple defensive tackles, yet only ended up with one. And in a cycle in which you knew you were losing Capehart and Woods. Again, the portal additions absolutely soften the blow of not landing a couple of guys you’d have liked to have, but the staff just didn’t experience the success we’re used to seeing in the high school ranks this go around.

Grade: C

Defensive End: Three-star JR Hardrick, Three-star Michael Foster

Clemson landed two defensive ends in the cycle. While both Hardrick and Foster possess potential, both are developmental guys. And neither will be on hand for spring practice, as both are summer enrollees. Four-star Dre Quinn was committed at one time, but would back off his verbal pledge in September. He would end up signing with Ohio State.

Once again, the Tigers had a hard time gaining traction with some of their top targets. Hardrick was a fallback option who committed before Quinn’s decommitment, and Foster was added on early signing day. With it being widely assumed that T.J. Parker was going to forgo his senior season to enter the NFL Draft, something that ultimately did happen, Clemson would have benefited greatly from hitting on a guy who was closer to being college-ready. Cade Denhoff, a key depth piece, exhausted his eligibility and also won’t return next season.

The Tigers do have both Will Heldt and Jahiem Lawson back in 2026, and also added CJ Wesley from the portal, but there are valid questions about the depth. Darien Mayo and Ari Watford stepping up would go a long ways to quelling those concerns.

However, looking ahead to 2027, once Heldt and Lawson move on, there might very well be even more questions. The staff needs to hit on some quality ends in this current class.

Grade: D

Linebacker: Four-star Brayden Reilly

The plan was to take one, and that’s what happened. The top target was five-star Tyler Atkinson, but he wound up at Texas. Reilly was a late target who committed in October.

Reilly is another player who was probably a little undervalued. He wasn’t bumped up to four-star status until late in the cycle, but he has speed, something the Tigers have lacked at the position at times in recent years. Standing 6-foot-3, he’s also got length, something Tom Allen flat-out said the defense didn’t have enough of in 2025.

Reilly is another summer enrollee, so he won’t take part in spring practice. With that in mind, it will be difficult to crack the rotation during his debut season, but he is capable of making an impact sooner rather than later.

Grade: B

Safety: Four-star Polo Anderson

At one time, Clemson had three safeties committed, and the plan was to take all three. However, two of them decommitted, leaving the Tigers with just one on signing day. Having said that, of the three, if you were only going to get one, Anderson is the one you want.

The in-state talent is one of the better safeties in the class and one of Clemson’s highest-rated signees, regardless of position. Don’t be surprised to see Anderson make an impact as a freshman. He’s got speed, range and he’s long. He’s also more than willing to come up and defend the run.

The staff also went out and added two starting caliber safeties in Corey Myrick and Jerome Carter via the portal to make up for those decommitments. Both are rising juniors and have two years left. While those were two great moves that make this defense better, we can’t ignore that recruiting high school safeties has been a struggle in the past two classes.

The staff has been able to get them in the fold, but they just haven’t been able to hold onto them. The Tigers also had two safeties decommit in the previous recruiting cycle and signed only one in 2025.

With Mickey Conn being dismissed and the secondary coaching staff being restructured, it will be interesting to see if that helps lead to more success on the trail in this recruiting cycle. While Nolan Turner was promoted to safeties coach, Thomas Allen is the one overseeing the entire secondary, and he is the coach out on the road recruiting, not Turner.

While Anderson is a huge get, signing only the one safety hurts the overall perception, knowing the plan was to take three.

Grade: C

Cornerback: Three-star Shavar Young, three-star Marcell Gipson

While the staff was open to taking three corners, they ultimately signed just two. Young got more of the publicity, seeing as there were flip rumors surrounding him for weeks, but both are underrated in this writer’s opinion.

With neither measuring 6-foot tall, it’s easy to see why the services didn’t fall in love with either. Both both player bigger than their size, particularly Gipson. He can cover, he’s athletic and he has a nose for the ball.

On paper, this is a solid duo of corners. Two players with a lot of upside. Imagine if the Tigers could have closed the deal with a player like four-star Danny Odem, who ended up at Nebraska, or four-star Julian Peterson, who ended up at North Carolina. One of those guys would have really given Clemson a really solid class of corners.

The staff did make up for the misses by adding Elliot Washington and Donovan Starr out of the portal. With Starr just finishing up his freshman season, landing him is basically like landing a high school guy, seeing as he’t got three more years. He just might have the most upside of them all.

Grade: B

Photo by Bart Boatwright