Heel Tough Blog: 2026 Position Previews- DB

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With official visits done for the summer, it is time to turn our attention back to the 2026 team. We’ll do so by giving you our in-depth position previews for this season where we do a deep dive on each position room as we wait for fall camp to start. We shut down our look at the defensive side of the football with a look at the room that probably boasts the biggest question marks heading into the season, the defensive backs.

The team has to replace some important pieces, starting with both starting corners from the season finale last year against NC State. One guy that the team is hoping can make one leap to become one of their best players this season after showing some nice flashes a year ago is junior cornerback Jaiden Patterson. Patterson was one of the defensive standouts last year after he became a starter in the Clemson game and the hope is that he can take another step this year as the full time starter. In 473 snaps last year, he finished with 34 total tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, an interception and five pass breakups while allowing 24 of his 37 targets to be caught for just 236 yards and zero touchdowns in 287 coverage snaps. If he can build upon those numbers this year, he could be someone that receives postseason All-ACC honors.

In the slot, senior Kaleb Cost was much better last season after a rough first year at the position and is hoping to carry that over into this year. In the 480 snaps that he played a year ago, he collected 45 total tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, an interception and five pass breakups while allowing 31 of his 45 targets to be caught for just 266 yards and one touchdown. He needs to clean up the penalties, as he gets a bit grabby, but this is someone that is poised to build on what they did last season and take the next step towards becoming one of the top slot corners in the league.

After these two is where the questions begin. While there was a lot to like about what sophomore Greg Smith did a year ago in a hybrid linebacker/safety position, the staff is probably going to ask a lot more out of him with an expected shift to that box safety role. Last year, in 273 snaps, Smith finished with 25 total tackles and an interception while allowing just eight of his 14 targets to be caught for 50 yards and zero touchdowns. The hope is that those numbers can even remotely translate this season with the added snaps that he is going to see because if they do, it could give the team one of the better coverage safeties in the conference.

Alongside of him will likely be senior Coleman Bryson who is back after playing a rotational role for the group a year ago. In 225 snaps, he collected 17 total tackles and two pass breakups while allowing seven of his 11 targets to be caught for 55 yards and a touchdown, but did miss six tackles. While he was very solid in coverage this past year, he’ll simply have to tackle better if he is going to be trusted to handle a starting role this season.

The other starting outside corner position is where there should be a battle during fall camp. The team added Michigan State transfer Ade Willie as an experienced option in this room, but with his track record, there is no way he should just be handed the job. For starters, Willie has never been a full-time starter in his career and his numbers when he has played the majority of his snaps at outside corner are not great. In 2023 and 2024 where he played almost exclusively on the outside, he allowed 17 of his 23 targets to be caught for 337 yards and four touchdowns. He has also struggled with tackling, posting a 23.7% missed tackle rate so far in his career. The hope is that Willie has made some strides this offseason and can at least prevent the big plays that have hurt him in the past.

Battling him is junior Jalon Thompson, who is back looking for a bigger role this season. Thompson played 112 snaps last year and finished with nine total tackles and two breakups while allowing five of his eight targets to be caught for 63 yards. He is a better tackler than Willie in limited reps, but he’ll have to prove that he can consistently limit big plays in coverage if he is going to earn the starting role. At the least, he should be a part of the rotation here to begin the season.

True freshman Kenton Dopson is another intriguing option here that could factor into the battle for reps at some point this season. There wasn’t much buzz around him in the spring, but he was the highest-rated defensive prospect for the team in the 2026 class and has plenty of talent that he brings to the table. With a semester at the college level under his belt, he might be a name that starts to stand out in fall camp or as we go throughout the season.

Another member of this secondary that looks like he will be a part of the rotation going into the season is sophomore Peyton Waters. Waters played just 33 snaps and registered just three tackles last year between defense and special teams a year ago, but did show some flashes in those limited reps against TCU and Clemson. If he can put together a solid fall camp, he could be pushing to play important snaps in the opener.

The last guy that should be a part of the rotation entering the season is junior slot corner Tre Miller. In 117 snaps last year, Miller collected 13 total tackles and allowed 14 of his 15 targets to be caught for 153 yards. He’ll simply have to be more effective in his reps this season or one of the younger options in this room could overtake him on the depth chart as the season goes along.

Another guy who played some significant snaps at one point for the team a year ago is redshirt freshman Javion Butts. In 95 total snaps a year ago (51 on defense, 44 on special teams), Butts finished with seven total tackles and allowed his lone target to be caught for 19 yards. He showed some promising signs late last season, but it doesn’t appear as if he was able to build on that and establish himself as part of the rotation. A strong showing in fall camp, though, might get him back in the conversation for rotational reps.

There will also be true freshmen battling for reps at safety this season. Jakob Witherspoon was the highest ranked defensive back that the team signed in the last recruiting class and will hope to become a factor at some point this year. The same can be said for Jamarrion Gordon and Julian Burns, who look like guys that will play exclusively at safety.

The deeper depth at corner is very young just like at safety. Sophomore Khristian Dunbar-Hawkins and junior Reggie Love are the most veteran options in this room, but neither has played significant reps at this level yet in their careers. That leads to the true freshmen such as Julian Peterson, Xavier Jackson and David Davis, who will hope to climb the depth throughout the season as talented options coming out of the high school ranks. Redshirt freshmen Jermaine Anderson and Graham Reintjes will also be a part of this unit after not playing a single defensive snap a year ago.

At slot corner, the deeper depth is led by Jaziel Hart, who will hope to capitalize if Miller was to struggle again this season. A number of the guys mentioned above could also factor in here if there is a need for some of the younger guys to step in behind Cost and/or Willie, who could see the bulk of the snaps there.

Projected Depth Chart:

BCB

#18 Jaiden Patterson, Jr.

#21 Kenton Dopson III, Fr.

#23 Khristian Dunbar-Hawkins, So.

#19 Reggie Love II, Jr.

#32 Jermaine Anderson, RFr.

FCB

# 3 Ade Willie, Sr.

# 4 Jalon Thompson, Jr.

#31 Julian Peterson, Fr.

#20 Xavier Jackson, Fr.

#27 Graham Reintjes, RFr.

NB

# 2 Kaleb Cost, Sr.

# 6 Tre Miller, Jr.

#30 Jaziel Hart, Fr.

FS

#16 Coleman Bryson, Sr.

# 7 Peyton Waters, So.

#17 Jakob Weatherspoon, Fr.

#34 David Davis, Fr.

BS

# 1 Greg Smith, So.

#24 Javion Butts, RFr.

#28 Jamarrion Gordon, Fr.

#38 Julian Burns, Fr.