Clemson D-line ranked No. 1 in college football

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Athlon Sports is ranking the top units in college football and Clemson's is as strong as any in the front-seven this year.

That starts upfront with the No. 1-ranked defensive line.

"New defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin inherits a line overflowing with talent and one that could end up being the best of coach Dabo Swinney’s tenure," said Athlon's Steve Lassan. "The Tigers limited teams to just 2.9 yards per carry and recorded 42 sacks last year, and the overall play of this unit was a big reason why the defense allowed only 14.8 points a game in ’21. A pair of All-America candidates man the interior, with Tyler Davis (2.5 TFL) and Bryan Bresee (3.0) each poised for a bounce-back year after both battled injuries in ’21. End Xavier Thomas could miss the start of ’22 due to injury, but the pass rush won’t suffer with Myles Murphy (14 TFL), K.J. Henry and Justin Mascoll coming off the edge."

Alabama and Georgia are next on the list, and 2022 scheduled foes in the top-25 include Notre Dame (7), NC State (20) and Miami (25).

At linebacker, Clemson is rated sixth overall.

NC State paces the ACC there at No. 3 with its starting group returning. Notre Dame is also in the top-10 (9) and Syracuse cracks the top-20 (17).

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