Spring Practice Preview: Plenty of talent at the linebacker spots

Mike Jones should be a big factor in Clemson's 2020 defense.After coming up short in the national championship game, the expectations are still higher than ever and with spring practice kicking off Wednesday, it’s time to take a look at where Clemson stands position by position.

Clemson defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Brent Venables has to replace two starters in his group with the departure of Chad Smith at the WILL (weakside) spot an Isaiah Simmons at the SAM/Nickel (strongside) spot. Smith finished fourth on the team with 80 tackles, including 5.0 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks to go along with eight quarterback pressures.

Simmons won the Butkus Award, becoming the first…