'20 Clemson Commit Mitchell Mayes Highlights + Evaluation
Mitchell Mayes (Raleigh, NC) announced his commitment in spring of 2019 to the Clemson University to play for Dabo Swinney and the 2019 NCAA Champion Tigers.
His film shows something rare in offensive lineman at the high school level, balance. I think this is due to his height 6'3 (not too tall) and his excellent footwork. When he works up to the second level after pancaking a 3-technique on a down-block, he looks like a normal sized human.
But the thing is he's not. He's 300 pounds and moving effortlessly to a linebacker that's much smaller than him.
His fast feet allow him to drive his opponents wherever he wants. He's also figured out the clamp grip that more experienced lineman use to latch on to the chest pads and not let go.
However, Mayes has some footwork issues in pass protection. Some of his film showed his tendency to drop his power foot when he was beaten on the inside. He can recover because he's fast, but that's something he'll need to fix right away if he intends on trying to block the defensive line at Clemson.
Mitchell also plays with a nastiness to him that offensive line coaches love, (and the defense hates). He's definitely a finisher.
Clemson's 2020 class alone now boasts an astonishing nine 4-stars and five 5-stars.
