Clemson 2026 Portal Opportunities, The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

2 hours ago 1

It still seems weird to write about the Transfer Portal in a positive light. Let’s be honest, last year was the first actual year Clemson used the portal and it certainly helped, though maybe not as much as everyone hoped. Yes, there was griping last year, but it wasn’t as bad as previous seasons. The good news is there is plenty of opportunity this year.

In the past we’ve done a scholarship breakdown by position and year to highlight both the size of a recruiting class needed and the number of potential spots for a transfers. Numbers were always tight because of the 85 scholarship limit. Thankfully that has all changed. Changes due to the NCAA House Settlement mean the old scholarship caps are gone and instead a roster limit of 105 is what we are tracking to. Now obviously not every spot is going to be filled by a blue chip recruit. There just aren’t that many guys to go around.

But it does give Clemson a lot of opportunity. At the end of the early signing period Clemson had ~7 scholarships available for portal players. 98 scholarship players left the Tigers in a decent position to make some key additions. Since then we’ve seen additional departures announced, for a total of 10 portal departures. Not an unusual amount for the year.

That gives Clemson an opportunity to bring in up to 12 players starting today. Now let’s temper expectations. The odds of actually seeing 12 or more guys come in is pretty low. But we’ve seen some real holes on this team and these departures give the staff flexibility to address the glaring holes at Clemson.

Now one of the depressing things about all of the positions we list below is the need for at least one quality starter. This isn’t just trying to do a few touch ups on the team. There’s a need for some real rebuilding of positions here. We need 7-8 Will Heldts in the portal this year.

Safety

Not a big surprise that safety is number one here. Yes, the Tigers have the numbers. But when you look at the roster it is hard to get too excited, even with the departure of Mickey Conn, a move that has long overdue. The second level of the defense was a huge issue last in 2025. It was soft, showed poor coverage skills, and the less said about run defense the better. A bonafide safety is a must, ideally two though I won’t be greedy.

Offensive Line

I still like Matt Luke and think he can be successful, especially with a functioning OC. But this line needs help either way. The running game was BRUTAL this year, barely breaking into the top 100 run games. And the less said about third down percentages the better. And even if Adam Randall was RB1, there was enough talent in the RB room to be at least average in the run game. The OL was just so soft, and bad, and confused all year. The offense rarely got into a position where you would expect them to convert a third down. At least one, maybe up to 3 starters on the OL has to happen.

Defensive End and Defensive Tackle

If you want to sum up the 2025 season, look at the DL A huge amount of hype, the expectation of dominance, and then a little whimper if we were lucky for 13 games. The only real bright side was transfer Will Heldt. Who is thankfully coming back. What used to be the strength of Clemson is a weakness. And you can’t succeed in this game without dudes in the trenches. The more portal additions here the better. Though who knows if we have the financial power to make any moves here.

The QB Question

So this one is hard to nail down. Vizzina had a very good game in his one start against SMU this year. A game that certainly inspired more confidence than the mop up duty ugliness we’ve seen over the years. And there is a lot of optimism about what true freshman Chris Denson could bring. But without an OC named it is really hard to understand what skillset we need at QB. If Chad Morris returns, it seems like Denson or a portal guy would be a much better fit. But if Monken is coming back to college maybe Vizzina is a better fit?

All of that to say that maybe standing pat unless there is an amazing option is the best plan. Let Vizzina and Denson prove themselves and if it isn’t working in 2026 then look to the portal.

We will see what Clemson actually does. Personally I’m not super optimistic that we’ll see every issue addressed. The plan for 2026 has to be a new coaching staff coupled with some key additions and a decent recruiting class put Clemson back on track to the mountain top. Maybe if things go well the Tigers can be back in the conversation for an ACC title, with real national title ambitions coming in following years.

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