Making the Case: Is it Clemson or Georgia for OL Jamaree Salyer?

With the first early signing period bearing down on the college football world, several of the nation’s top prospects are still mulling their options, with decisions likely to come down this week.

Today, experts from the Rivals.com network examine where five-star Atlanta (Ga.) Pace Academy offensive lineman Jamaree Salyer will end up playing his college football. The candidates are Clemson and Georgia.

MAKING THE CASE: Cade Mays | Brenton Cox

Salyer’s recruitment has pretty much been a two-team race since the early going. After emerging as a national-level recruit early in his high school career, Salyer quickly became a regular at both campuses, making several visits throughout his recruitment. Despite a push from Stanford over the summer, Salyer has stayed focused on the Tigers and Dawgs, and will be announcing his decision Wednesday.

So where will he end up? We asked our team experts to state the case for their respective programs and let National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell issue a verdict.

“Let me preface this by saying since the onset of his recruitment, I've been of the belief that Salyer would be Georgia-bound. With him coming off of an official visit weekend and opting to go through with his original plan of signing early, I'm feeling even more confident in the pick. He's an in-state star who's been a primary focus of Kirby Smart's staff since their arrival in Athens, has seen his former teammate Andrew Thomas have success in his freshman year, and is plenty comfortable with a number of members of Georgia's 2018 class. This would be a huge miss if the Bulldogs were to miss out, but I don't expect they will.” – Jake Reuse, UGASports.com

“Salyer cited a top group and talked about taking official visits to a bunch of places. But this dwindled down to a battle between Clemson and Georgia close to a year ago. The Bulldogs pulled ahead in the summer and haven't looked back, with the only blip perhaps coming last week when he briefly mulled holding off signing this week. Georgia appeared to squash that pretty easily on his official visit last weekend. He had a favorable rapport with Clemson co-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott and line coach Robbie Caldwell, and the combination of proximity and stature kept Clemson in the conversation. But they were always a long shot to pull Salyer out of state considering his UGA connections.” – Paul Strelow, TigerIllustrated.com

“I’ve got Georgia in this one in a close win over Clemson. He loves both schools but I think the pull of playing at home and the relationships he has with some of the Georgia players will win out in the end.” – Mike Farrell, National Recruiting Director