CLEMSON — It’s no secret that safety play was a weakness for the Clemson defense in 2025, and the faces lining up at those positions next season will certainly look different.
Even if Khalil Barnes and Rircado Jones hadn’t decided to transfer out, Tom Allen was going shopping for safety help in the portal. And help he found. The Tigers not only added two starting caliber players at the position in Corey Myrick and Jerome Carter, but both were two of the highest-graded safeties in the portal, per Pro Football Focus.
Make no mistake, both of those guys are going to play, and they’re going to play a lot. Those are very likely your two starters when the Tigers kick off the season in Baton Rouge against LSU. However, you also need some quality depth, and while guys like Ronan Hanafin and Kylon Griffin are both back, one name to know is true freshman Polo Anderson.
The 6-foot-2 prospect, out of nearby Dorman High School, brings some traits Clemson sorely lacked at the position last year — speed and length. Legit 4.3 speed. That is part of the reason Anderson was a consensus Top-150 recruit in the last recruiting cycle.
“Polo, he is unique,” head coach Dabo Swinney said. “He is a hard guy to kind of put in a box and say this is what he is.”
“He has great length. I don’t want to say he is Ashton Hampton, but he is Ashton Hampton in the way that he’s got unique skill sets for his position.”
Anderson earned all-state honors twice during a stellar high school career that saw him rack up 265 career tackles, 25 tackles for loss, seven sacks, five forced fumbles, five pass breakups and four interceptions. He also blocked four kicks. Last season, he was a finalist for Mr. Football in the state of South Carolina.
If there is one freshman on the defensive side of the ball capable of coming in and immediately challenging for early playing time, it is Anderson. He possesses all of the physical traits required to play the position at a high level.
If he can soak up the mental part, he’s a guy who will see the field sooner rather than later.
“Size, speed, athleticism,” Swinney said. “Can do, I think, three or four different type jobs within the structure of our defense. I think he’s got a chance to help us early.”
Photo courtesy of Polo Anderson on Instagram