The Clemson Insider thought it would be interesting to analyze the matchups on Clemson’s 2021 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 Boston College at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 2. 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 – Paul Tchio (4-star, No. 103 national, No. 3 OG)
C – Matt Bockhorst (4-star, No. 240 national, No. 17 OG)
RG – Will Putnam (4-star, No. 101 national, No. 5 OG)
RT – Walker Parks (4-star, No. 50 national, No. 5 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 – Kobe Pace (3-star, No. 451 national, No. 32 RB)
WR – Justyn Ross (4-star, No. 45 national, No. 7 WR)
WR – Frank Lasdon Jr. (4-star, No. 39 national, No. 7 WR)
or WR – E.J. Williams (4-star, No. 69 national, No. 13 WR)
Clemson defense:
DE – Myles Murphy (5-star, No. 7 national, No. 1 SDE)
or DE – Xavier Thomas (5-star, No. 3 national, No. 1 SDE)
or DE – K.J. Henry (5-star, No. 14 national, No. 3 WDE)
DT – Tré Williams (4-star, No. 94 national, No. 11 DT)
DT – Ruke Orhorhoro (3-star, No. 745 national, No. 49 SDE)
DE – Justin Foster (4-star, No. 156 national, No. 11 WDE)
or DE – Justin Mascoll (4-star, No. 142 national, No. 9 WDE)
or DE – Xavier Thomas
SLB/NB – Trenton Simpson (5-star, No. 26 national, No. 1 OLB)
or SLB/NB – Malcolm Greene (4-star, No. 282 national, No. 29 S)
MLB – James Skalski (3-star, No. 680 national, No. 44 OLB)
WLB – Baylon Spector (3-star, No. 609 national, No. 45 S)
CB – Andrew Booth Jr. (5-star, No. 23 national, No. 2 CB)
SS – Andrew Mukuba (4-star, No. 167 national, No. 8 S)
FS – Nolan Turner (NR)
CB – Mario Goodrich (4-star, No. 114 national, No. 4 ATH)
Boston College offense:
LT – Tyler Vrabel (3-star, No. 1386 national, No. 128 OT)
LG – Zion Johnson (NR)
C – Alec Lindstrom (2-star, No. 2326 national, No. 33 OC)
RG – Christian Mahogany (3-star, No. 1505 national, No. 80 OG)
RT – Ben Petrula (3-star, No. 722 national, No. 33 OG)
X – C.J. Lewis (3-star, No. 772 national, No. 111 WR)
TE – Joey Luchetti (3-star, No. 1141 national, No. 48 TE)
RB – Pat Garwo III (3-star, No. 397 national, No. 29 RB)
QB – Dennis Grosel (NR)
F – Jaelen Gill (4-star, No. 30 national, No. 2 APB)
Z – Zay Flowers (3-star, No. 1202 national, No. 139 WR)
Boston College defense:
DE – Shitta Sillah (3-star, No. 667 national, No. 45 OLB)
NT – Izaiah Henderson (3-star, No. 995 national, No. 67 SDE)
DT – Cam Horsley (3-star, No. 1642 national, No. 120 DT)
DE – Marcus Valdez (3-star, No. 1634 national, No. 82 SDE)
or DE – Donovan Ezeiruaku (3-star, No. 1225 national, No. 133 LB)
SAM – Kam Arnold (3-star, No. 1372 national, No. 99 ATH)
MIKE – Isaiah Graham-Mobley (3-star, No. 1911 national, No. 133 S)
WILL – Vinny DePalma (3-star, No. 1196 national, No. 47 ILB)
or WILL – Bryce Steele (3-star, No. 383 national, No. 43 LB)
LCB – Elijah Jones (3-star, No. 793 national, No. 66 ATH)
SS – Jaiden Woodbey (4-star, No. 35 national, No. 4 S)
or SS – Jahmin Muse (3-star, No. 1071 national, No. 81 S)
FS – Jason Maitre (3-star, No. 1732 national, No. 133 ATH)
or FS – Mike Palmer (2-star, No. 2252 national, No. 167 S)
RCB – Brandon Sebastian (3-star, No. 708 national, No. 70 CB)
NB – Josh DeBerry (3-star, No. 1042 national, No. 100 CB)
Notes:
It’s evident that Clemson has the talent advantage on paper, but that didn’t seem to matter in last week’s 27-21 double-overtime loss at N.C. State. From a recruiting standpoint, the Wolfpack’s roster was littered with former three-star recruits, with just a couple of four stars sprinkled in. It’ll be more of the same this week, as far as Clemson’s opponent is concerned.
As for Boston College, the Eagles only have two former four-star prospects in Jaiden Woodbey and Jaelen Gill, with the latter being an Ohio State transfer. Most of Boston College’s projected starting lineup consists of former three-star recruits and a few of them former two-stars. The vast majority of their projected starters were ranked outside of the top 1,000 players in the country as high school prospects.
Boston College head coach Jeff Hafley and staff have done a good job of developing talent in Chestnut Hill. Make no mistake, Clemson is not overlooking Boston College this week, regardless of what the recruiting rankings say. The Eagles are undefeated heading into their first conference matchup of the season.
**All ratings/rankings according to the 247Sports Composite
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