What recruiting rankings tell us about the Clemson-Florida State matchup

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