Clemson Football: 5 Reasons Tigers will win 2018 national title

4. Defensive dominance

Clemson and Ohio State will go back-and-forth all season over who has the best defensive line in college football. The Tigers bring in a superstar recruit at defensive end in Xavier Thomas. Thomas figures to be in the rotation and his impact will be felt immediately in their Week two matchup at Texas A&M.

Dexter Lawrence is a monster at defensive tackle and racked up 78 tackles and seven sacks to garner 2nd Team All-ACC nods. Clelin Ferrell also returns after posting a six-sack season himself. If both players can stay healthy again it wouldn’t shock me to see them each produce at least six or seven sacks apiece. If anyone can average over five yards per carry against Clemson in a game this season I will be shocked.

The linebacker unit is very experienced and returns a leader in Kendall Joseph. The senior is the leading returning tackler and he had 87 tackles and 10 quarterback hurries last season, so expect the defensive staff to unleash him in pass rush situations even more. The biggest compliment to last year’s defense was that they only gave up 13.6 points per game.

The secondary is led by free safety Tanner Muse, who is the second leading tackler returning to the defense. When you line him up at safety and have talented cornerbacks like Trayvon Mullen and Mark Fields at your disposal you can leave players on an island and send the kitchen sink at the quarterback.

You can’t win a championship without defense and Clemson has arguably the best in the country.