Tag: clemson football recruiting

After Clemson’s 34-28 win over Florida State at Doak S. Campbell Stadium on Saturday night, The Clemson Insider reached out to various Clemson commits and other prospects to get their reactions to the team’s latest win.

Here’s what some recruits had to say:

Clemson commit A.J. Hoffler. 2023 four-star defensive end, Woodward Academy (College Park, Ga.): “Not too surprised we won. It’s what I expect on a week-to-week basis and the d-line continues to keep dominating the opposing o-line which is getting me real excited to get up there and be a part of it!”

Clemson commit Branden Strozier, 2023 four-star cornerback, St. Francis (Alpharetta, Ga.): “It was a great game in my opinion, for them to come play in an environment like that and make the plays that they did was really big.”

Khalil Barnes, 2023 three-star defensive back, North Oconee (Bogart, Ga.): “Very impressive. Never seems like Clemson loses their cool. Always poised and they played against the refs tonight too, so that’s a huge win.

Adonis McDaniel, 2023 wide receiver, Ridge View (Columbia, S.C.): “Honestly, was a great game. Glad we pulled it out and got the W. Everybody was making plays, which helps the team in different situations. Some might have made the best plays but made the play the team needed. It was also good to see my guy (freshman wide receiver) Antonio (Williams) get in the box again for a touchdown last night. It’s always good to see S.C. ballers making plays at the next level, like how (Tennesee WR) Jaylin Hyatt had a big game last night — that’s what we need. I feel like people like them are going to help draw more attention for us athletes in South Carolina.”

Sammy Brown, 2024 five-star linebacker, Jefferson (Ga.): “I thought that the offense and defense played great. Maybe let up a little at the end, but a W is a  W. Great to go into their house and silence them!”

Wendell Gregory, 2024 four-star linebacker, Walton (Marietta, Ga.): “Win was electric. Amazing team win.”

Alex Taylor, 2024 four-star wide receiver, Grimsley (Greensboro, N.C.): “Offense looked really great, slowed down in the second half but still looked good, and defense played alright but getting all the guys healthy in the next weeks they should be back to one of the best in the nation, but D.J. (Uiagalelei) looked sharp and very confident.”

Fletcher Westphal, 2024 four-star offensive lineman, Tuscarora (Leesburg, Va.): “I didn’t see the game, but I’m not surprised by the win. Looking at the score looks like Florida State put up a good fight

Ian Flynt, 2024 three-star tight end, Taylor (Katy, TX.): “It was good to see them continue on that winning streak, just steam-rolling everyone. What was cool to see was (sophomore running back) Will Shipleyu continually doing his thing and also getting to see the offense continually using (senior tight end) Davis Allen as a vertical weapon.”

Blake Frazier, 2024 offensive lineman, Vandegrift (Austin, TX.): “It was a great game. Lots of back and forth between the teams, but Will Shipley had an amazing game and the offense as a whole just dominated. Excited to see what they can do next week against Syracuse.”

Israel Boyce,2024 defensive back, Douglas County (Douglasville, Ga.): “It was a great win both offense and defense started to click after halftime. It was a little shaky in the first half but I knew they were going to come out the next half locked in.”

Cortez Smith, 2025 offensive lineman, Parkview (Lilburn, Ga.): “I thought it was an awesome win!! They kept fighting and continued to play hard!! I love it!!!”

Julian Lewis, 2026 quarterback, Carrolton (Ga.): “That was my first time seeing Clemson on the road. Impressed by how they competed and their toughness on offense.”

Dear Old Clemson is excited to announce limited edition signed cards from the freshmen football players are now in our online store. There are only 100 of each signed.

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The Clemson Insider thought it would be interesting to analyze the matchups on Clemson’s 2022 schedule from a recruiting standpoint by going back and looking at where the Tigers’ projected starters were ranked as recruits versus where the projected starters for their opponents were ranked.

In this article, we break down Clemson’s game against Florida State at Doak Campbell Stadium on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Below is a rundown of the projected starters for both teams, as it stands now, and their high school star ratings and prospect rankings according to the 247Sports Composite:

Clemson offense:

LT – Jordan McFadden (3-star, No. 819 national, No. 66 OT)

LG – Marcus Tate (4-star, No. 127 national, No. 8 IOL)

C – Will Putnam (4-star, No. 101 national, No. 5 OG)

RG – Walker Parks (4-star, No. 50 national, No. 5 OT)

RT – Blake Miller (4-star, No. 208 national, No. 16 OT)

TE – Davis Allen (3-star, No. 807 national, No. 39 TE)

WR – Joseph Ngata (4-star, No. 52 national, No. 9 WR)

QB – D.J. Uiagalelei (5-star, No. 10 national, No. 1 PRO)

RB – Will Shipley (5-star, No 32 national, No. 2 RB)

WR – Antonio Williams (4-star, No. 61 national, No. 6 WR)

WR – Beaux Collins (4-star, No. 86 national, No. 12 WR)

Clemson defense:

DE – K.J. Henry (5-star, No. 14 national, No. 3 WDE)

or DE – Xavier Thomas (5-star, No. 3 national, No. 1 SDE)

DT – Bryan Bresee (5-star, No. 1 national, No. 1 DT)

or DT – Ruke Orhorhoro (3-star, No. 745 national, No. 49 SDE)

DT – Tyler Davis (4-star, No. 137 national, No. 12 DT)

or DT – Ruke Orhorhoro

DE – Myles Murphy (5-star, No. 7 national, No. 1 SDE)

or DE – Justin Mascoll (4-star, No. 142 national, No. 9 WDE)

SLB/NB – Barrett Carter (5-star, No. 33 national, No. 3 LB)

MLB – Jeremiah Trotter, Jr. (4-star, No. 37 national, No. 5 LB)

or MLB – Keith Maguire (3-star, No. 442 national, No. 26 OLB)

WLB – Trenton Simpson (5-star, No. 26 national, No. 1 OLB)

CB – Sheridan Jones (4-star, No. 130 national, No. 15 CB)

or CB – Andrew Mukuba (4-star, No. 167 national, No. 8 S)

SS – Andrew Mukuba

FS – Jalyn Phillips (3-star, No. 448 national, No. 37 S)

or FS – Tyler Venables (3-star, No. 1127 national, No. 81 S)

CB – Nate Wiggins (4-star, No. 118 national, No. 7 CB)

or CB – Andrew Mukuba

Florida State offense:

QB – Jordan Travis (3-star, No. 889 national, No. 25 DUAL)

RB – Treshaun Ward (3-star, No. 1267 national, No. 84 RB)

or RB –  Trey Benson (3-star, No. 375 national, No. 27 RB)

WR – Mycah Pittman (4-star, No. 94 national, No. 15 WR)

WR – Ontaria Wilson (3-star, No. 740 national, No. 75 CB)

WR – Johnny Wilson (4-star, No. 116 national, No. 21 WR)

TE – Camren McDonald (4-star, No. 290 national, No. 15 TE)

LT – Robert Scott, Jr. (2-star, No. 508 national, No. 39 OT)

or LT – Darius Washington (3-star, No. 502 national, No. 38 OT)

LG – Dillan Gibbons (3-star, No. 374 national, No. 38 OT)

C – Maurice Smith (3-star, No. 1093 national, No. 58 OG)

RG – D’Mitri Emmanuel (3-star, No. 1721 national, No. 81 OG)

or RG – Darius Washington

RT – Jazton Turnetine (3-star, No. 46 national, No. 6 OT — JUCO)

Florida State defense:

DE – Derrick McLendon II (3-star, No. 495 national, No. 37 WDE)

or DE – Jared Verse (NR)

DT – Fabien Lovett (3-star, No. 436 national, No. 18 SDE)

or DT – Jarrett Jackson (3-star, No. 848 national, No. 41 SDE)

NT – Robert Cooper (4-star, No. 117 national, No. 9 DT)

FOX – Dennis Briggs, Jr. (4-star, No. 325 national, No. 25 DT)

LB – Kalen DeLoach (4-star, No. 221 national, No. 13 OLB)

LB – Tatum Bethune (3-star, No. 1370 national, No. 101 OLB)

CB – Omarion Cooper (4-star, No. 285 national, No. 23 CB)

BUCK – Akeem Dent (4-star, No. 50 national, No. 7 CB)

FS – Jammie Robinson (3-star, No. 393 national, No. 32 S)

NB – Kevin Knowles II (3-star, No. 588 national, No. 48 CB)

CB – Renardo Green (3-star, No. 486 national, No. 47 CB)

Notes: 

As you might expect, a look at Florida State’s projected starters and where they ranked as recruits show that the Seminoles are clearly one of, if not the most talented team Clemson will face during the regular season, at least on paper. FSU has a total of eight former four-star prospects among its projected starters. Meanwhile, the Tigers’ projected starting lineups consists of14 former four-star prospects and eight former five-stars.

**All ratings/rankings according to the 247Sports Composite