Clemson defender: 'We're the best defense in the country, hands down'

Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables is known as a perfectionist and believes that his unit still has a ways to go to get to where it needs to be.

Tigers defensive back K’Von Wallace agrees that there is still work to do, but the Virginia native was not shy about what he expects from the Clemson defense in 2018.

“I feel like we’re the best defense in the country, hands down,” Wallace said following Monday’s practice. “We’ve got a lot of amazing players back, and I feel like we’re going to be in the top categories, all the categories on defense. Just only getting better, and it’s a scary sight to see.”

It sounds as if the Tigers have been making steady progress since Venables made his unit run for about 20 minutes after a practice the last week of March.

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said the Tigers had a half-scrimmage on Monday and the defense got the better of the offense.

“The only touchdown given up was by our first defense to the second offense,” Swinney said. “And then I saw our second defense go three three-and-outs against the first offense. So that was very encouraging.”

Clemson’s defensive front should be the best in the nation as the Tigers return four All-Americans — Clelin Ferrell, Austin Bryant, Christian Wilkins and Dexter Lawrence.

Clemson returns a pair of starters at linebacker — Kendall Joseph and Tre Lamar.

The biggest question mark on defense is the secondary, where the Tigers lost cornerback Ryan Carter and safety Van Smith.

Clemson is thin and inexperienced at places in the secondary, but Wallace expects the defensive backs to more than hold their own.

“I believe that we always have that sense of urgency, no matter who’s back there. It’s a little bit more intense, of course, a lot more plays made, especially for the starters and everything like that, but we’ll be fine,” Wallace said. “We’re just only getting better. We’re learning. Again, this is a new team. Learning to play with each other, things of that nature. We’ll be perfectly fine.”

If Wallace is right and the secondary does its part, the safety might be right in saying Clemson will have the best defense in the nation this upcoming season.

The Tigers return eight starters from a 2017 defense that finished fourth in the nation in total defense at 276.7 yards per game and second in the nation in scoring defense at 13.6 points per game.

Wallace added that there is unfinished business after Clemson lost to Alabama in the College Football Playoff last season.

“We’re a hungry team,” the junior said. “We come ready like dogs, lions going into attack.”

This story was originally published April 10, 2018 at 6:48 PM with the headline "Clemson defender: 'We're the best defense in the country, hands down'."