The transfer portal is closed, National Signing Day has come and gone, and most college football teams by now at least have a relatively good idea of the state of their rosters going into the 2024 season.
Clemson finished its 2024 recruiting class in the early part of the year by adding four 4-star recruits: offensive linemen Jaylan Beckley and Brayden Jacobs, as well as defensive linemen Ari Watford and Isaiah Campbell.
Those signings gave the Tigers’ recruiting a big shot in the arm going into the season after an up-and-down 9-4 campaign in 2023.
With National Signing Day complete, Athlon Sports released its post-NSD Top 25 rankings.
in those rankings, Clemson is ranked No. 16.
“A defense that held opponents to 21.1 points a game in ’23 should remain a strength with linebacker Barrett Carter and linemen Peter Woods and T.J. Parker anchoring this group. However, returning to the top of the ACC is dependent on the offense taking a step forward in the second year under coordinator Garrett Riley. The Tigers averaged only 23.6 points a game in ACC contests last fall,” Athlon writes.
Defending ACC champion Florida State is the highest-ranked team in Athlon’s rankings, one spot above Clemson at No. 15.
Louisville and NC State are the only two other ACC schools to crack Athlon’s recent Top 25 rankings.