Could Clemson LBs Barrett Carter and Trenton Simpson Switch Roles?

Dabo Swinney and Wes Goodwin were both asked about the possibility of linebackers Barrett Carter and Trenton Simpson switching positions.

Jason Priester All Clemson

An injury to Trenton Simpson ahead of the Louisville game forced the Clemson coaching staff to do some shuffling at linebacker.

After starting the first nine games at SAM, sophomore Barrett Carter moved inside to WILL, replacing Simpson. It was a move that paid off big, as Carter turned in what was arguably his best performance to date, registering two sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss in the 31-16 win. He also picked off a pass.

Carter looked like a natural playing inside, leading to questions about the possibility of the former 5-star recruit making the move permanently, with Simpson moving back to SAM, the position he manned his first two seasons with the program. 

"Most definitely. I mean, there's numerous potentials and we'll see how that plays out this week," defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin said about a possible move.

Not only did Carter shine playing inside, earning ACC Linebacker of the Week honors, but Wade Woodaz also impressed while helping to fill the void at SAM, logging 20 snaps against the Cardinals. The freshman finished with a sack, 1.5 tackles for loss and forced a fumble.

"Barrett moving positions, Wade seeing his playing time increase, it's just a fruition of their hard work and preparation," Goodwin said. "Things that they do that go unnoticed by the public but we see how hard those guys work on the practice field, in the meeting rooms, how much extra time they put in to prepare."

Simpson, the second-leading tackler on the team, excelled manning the SAM a season ago, but the emergence of Carter allowed the junior to make the move inside. His versatility gives the staff options moving forward through the rest of the season, and Goodwin is confident that Simpson would still thrive if he were moved back to SAM.

"I definitely think he can," Goodwin said. "He's a tremendous athlete. Can run extremely fast, has great agility and speed to do everything that we need him to do from that standpoint."

Head coach Dabo Swinney is also confident in both players, regardless of where they line up. Although, like Simpson, Carter has always been destined to move inside at some point in the future. Maybe there's a possibility that happens sooner than most were expecting. 

"Trenton can play anywhere," Swinney said. "I think certainly, that's where (Carter) is going to be long term and gives us a little flexibility coming off a game like that. But Trenton, played great last year (at SAM). And his knowledge of the game has grown so much to get nine games playing inside. So he's had two years playing a little bit on the edge and doing some multiple things. So again, we've got a little bit more flexibility within our personnel that we necessarily didn't have going into that game."

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