Take Two: Is Clemson in line to sign a special, top-ranked class?
MORE TAKE TWO: Can Gators take lead and keep Florida players home?
Take Two returns with a daily offering tackling an issue in the college football landscape. Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and an expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites or a regional analyst.
THE STORYLINE
Clemson has the third-best recruiting class in the country after LSU and Alabama. The Tigers’ last two commitments came from five-stars Bryan Bresee and Fred Davis. Of Clemson’s 12 commits, only one is not a five- or four-star prospect.
And it could be getting a lot better for the national champs soon.
There is a real possibility Clemson could land a five-star prospect at nearly every position group since the Tigers look good or lead for five-star quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei and running back Demarkcus Bowman. Plus, Clemson is making a big move for five-star receiver Julian Fleming and Bresee is probably not the only five-star front seven prospect that’s going to commit there.
Offensive line looks to be the only position group where it’s hard to imagine at this point the Tigers land a five-star prospect.
It has already been an incredible haul for Dabo Swinney and his coaching staff. Is it about to get way, way better?
FIRST TAKE: PAUL STRELOW, TIGERILLUSTRATED.COM
“Through this offseason, Swinney has repeatedly expressed that Clemson has never had a No. 1-ranked recruiting class, nor might it because of how and who it recruits. While believing such statements to be both accurate and sincere to a large degree, one can’t also help but wonder if they don’t come from the same place in the program’s soul where all of last season’s talk about Alabama as the greatest team ever took root and festered.
“In other words, doubt Swinney’s lil ol’ Clemson, and they will show you. Yet make no mistake, the Tigers feel that the stars are lining up for a special class – and the appeal recruits have to play with other high-profile recruits is feeding itself. Clemson notched six five-stars in the 2018 class, most at positions where the Tigers carry pedigree - receiver, defensive end and quarterback.
“This time Clemson could score a five-star at at least quarterback, running back, receiver, defensive end, defensive tackle and corner – a new and broader measure of wealth acquisition by its standards. For the duration of his decade-long tenure, Swinney has told Clemson fans that the best remains yet to come. This class is taking shape as his supporting evidence for why that could be true even after two national championships in three years.”
SECOND TAKE: MIKE FARRELL, RIVALS.COM
“This class is a notch above what they’ve done before and what they’ve done before is pretty impressive. I don’t know if they’re going to get Uiagalelei after his Oregon visit but they certainly could and I assume they’re going to be in the running for a five-star running back and a five-star wide receiver because they always are, so it’s pretty impressive.
“This seems to be a little notch above what Dabo was recruiting before and that comes with the national championships. They finish from the 6-to-10 range usually and this year I think they could finish first.”