Whether anyone likes it or not, Clemson and the transfer portal are like oil and water, or at least, the incoming transfer portal.
The Tigers still have a significant portion of the team leaving, with around ten players a year for the last four years venturing out to “greener pastures.” With over double that amount coming in as true freshmen, Clemson should hardly dip below the 85-player scholarship limit, but it does mean the team will be increasingly younger as time goes on.
Fortunately, the newcomers are some of the best in the country. As for this year, a few should significantly impact the team in their first season.
Chris Hummer of 247 Sports thinks the Tigers have three incoming freshmen with the potential to influence college football in 2024. With the recent struggles from the wide receiver room, Hummer picked Bryant Wesco and TJ Moore to have crucial roles this season.
Wesco’s spring game performance really stood out to Hummer.
The knock on Wesco upon his enrollment at Clemson was his frame. At 6-foot-2, 170 pounds, Wesco definitely still needs to add weight this summer. But the dude can play. Wesco flashed on a number of springtime occasions for the Tigers, including scoring the first touchdown of their spring game. We know Clemson desperately needs exterior playmakers and Wesco is capable of providing some of that vertical pop.
Although Wesco played better this spring, Hummer thinks Moore will have the larger role in 2024.
Wesco showed up big this spring, but it might be Moore — a summer enrollee — who ends up with the larger role. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound Florida native showed ready-to-play ability in January at the All-American Bowl, and there’s a belief around the Tiger program that Moore was one of the steals of the cycle (he was a moderately late-rising recruit who finished as a five-star). At least one of Wesco or Moore will end up emerging as a difference-maker.
Moore and Wesco have relatively easy paths to playing time. Hummer’s third and final player does not. Linebacker Sammy Brown has excellent size for a true freshman, and while he may not start, he could see the field a lot this fall.
Brown’s path to the field is a bit more congested than his two 2024 class counterparts. While the Tigers need help at receiver, they’re in good shape at linebacker with Barrett Carter and Wade Woodaz in the middle of the defense. Still, Brown is as physically ready as perhaps any freshman to step in Day 1. He’s a true testing freak and had an impressive public debut in Clemson’s spring game with eight tackles and a sack. He won’t start this year. But expect him to be heavily in the rotation for the Tigers and flash on occasion, much in the way Woodaz did a year ago.