Clemson will rely on freshman cornerbacks in 2018. Are they ready to step up?

Clemson cornerbacks Kyler McMichael and Mario Goodrich might not be ready to be key contributors for the Tigers yet, but the freshman cornerbacks will be relied on early and often in 2018.

McMichael is listed as a second-string cornerback on Clemson’s depth chart, which was released Monday morning, while Goodrich is listed as third string.

Both players arrived this summer and are already two of the top five cornerbacks for the Tigers.

“They’re not polished at all right now. But athletically, physically, the mindset that you’ve gotta have, that’s all there with these guys,” Tigers coach Dabo Swinney said. “They’re just going to get better.”

Swinney expects that improvement to come in a hurry now that the Tigers are starting the season.

McMichael and Goodrich did not start practicing at Clemson until August after enrolling in the summer, but they have greatly improved mentally from the start of preseason camp until now.

“Now that we’re going to start getting ready for some games, I think they’ll make another jump as we kind of hone in a little bit on game plans,” Swinney said. “We’ve thrown a lot at these guys. But they’re what we hoped they would be. They’re not consistent, detailed, polished players right now. But they are fast and athletic and have the mindset that it takes to get better.”

Clemson has a solid top three at cornerback with Trayvon Mullen, A.J. Terrell and Mark Fields, but there is a drop off after that.

Redshirt sophomore Brian Dawkins Jr. and redshirt freshman LeAnthony Williams are also battling for playing time as backups, but it appears that the true freshmen McMichael and Goodrich are standing out as far as talent.

“We’ve got to get them ready to contribute. They’ve come along,” defensive coordinator Brent Venables said. “Anybody is never quite where you want them to be this early. I think the growth will really take place with the experience that they’ll gain and, inevitably, the failure that they’ll have.”

The two are likely to get experience on special teams in addition to defense early in 2018.

“We’re going to mix them in on special teams and, hopefully, we can pick our spots. Ideally, you’d like to pick your spots. But, hopefully, we don’t have to count on them to play starter-type snaps, but it would be great if we could create the depth that we need there,” Swinney said. “That’s only going to come through experience. I definitely think those are two guys, that as we go through the season, will grasp things a little bit better and have more opportunities to play.”

This story was originally published August 28, 2018 at 3:10 PM.