Clemson Snags First Offensive Lineman of 2027 Class

After the Clemson Tigers landed two four-star offensive commits last week in running back Gary Walker and wide receiver Jamarin Simmons, another blue-chip prospect on that side of the ball has now made his decision.

On Monday, offensive lineman Carter Jones (Poquoson, Va.) announced his commitment on CBS Sports' College Football YouTube channel, choosing Clemson over Penn State, Georgia and Tennessee. He is the first offensive lineman of this cycle committed to the program.

Jones is a four-star prospect and ranks as the No. 414 overall player, the No. 22 interior offensive lineman and the No. 11 player in the state of Virginia, according to the 247Sports Composite.

BREAKING: Class of 2027 IOL Carter Jones has Committed to Clemson, he tells me for @Rivals⁰
The 6’6 300 IOL chose the Tigers over Tennessee, Penn State, and Georgia

“I’M ALL IN! A Clemson man needs no introduction!”⁰⁰https://t.co/7NGoSexlBl pic.twitter.com/sFZukuQQWm
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) May 25, 2026

The 6-foot-5.5, 291-pound offensive lineman has been on Clemson and Matt Luke's radar longer than any other Power Four school, as he's taken seven unofficial trips to campus since June 2024.

To put it into perspective, when he visited Clemson for its 2024 home opener against Appalachian State, he held just one offer from Old Dominion; now he holds nearly 50 offers from some of the biggest programs in the country.

Considering the long-standing relationship between Jones and the staff, the Tigers held the lead in his recruitment race for just about the entire time, with him even saying to On3's Chad Simmons, "Clemson is at the top of my list, and it's going to be a hard contender to say no to," following the program's annual Elite Retreat in March.

However, after multiple visits to Happy Valley throughout the spring — including an official one at the beginning of April — Penn State surged. Jones was the first 2027 prospect to visit the program in the Matt Campbell era, and he came away with great relationships amongst the staff. The visits led both On3's Steve Wiltfong and Chad Simmons to predict the Nittany Lions would land him.

Jones then took his official visit to Georgia, where they impressed but didn't pick up as much steam on the trail as Penn State and Clemson had prior. He also officially visited Tennessee last Thursday, as he's a legacy of the program, and while the Volunteers were always in the mix, they never seemed to be a front-runner, necessarily.

Ultimately, it came down to the two programs that had built the most steam — Clemson and Penn State — and last week, the scales tipped back toward where it all began.

While Jones already had expert predictions from Clemson247's Austin Hannon and Noles247's Kolby Crawford to land with the Tigers based on his Elite Retreat experience, a handful of others continued to pour on starting last Wednesday.

The first was VTScoop's Evan G. Watkins, to which Brian Dohn, Cory Fravel and Tyler Calvaruso all followed suit the following day. Wiltfong and Simmons also flipped their predictions from the Nittany Lions to the Tigers, citing relationships — especially with Luke — culture and development.

With Jones now in the fold, he becomes the 11th player and first offensive lineman in the 2027 cycle for the Tigers, after missing on their initial six.

Regarding other interior offensive lineman, Clemson still has three other available options, including four-star Nate Carson, who has the Tigers in his top six and is set to commit on July 3, four-star Reed Ramsier, who's a former teammate of current Tiger Chance Barclay and will be in-town for his official visit on May 29-31, and three-star Elijah Morrison, who has the program in his top five and will also be in town the weekend of the 29.

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