Tiger Tracker: All Clemson Recruiting Mailbag
You've got recruiting questions and we have the answers.
Welcome to All Clemson's recruiting mailbag, where each week we will answer your recruiting questions. Or we will at least attempt to do so, as recruiting is a world with many moving parts and an ever-changing landscape.
With that in mind, let's dive in.
Mailbag
Jason: Love your updates, but just wondering if there is anything new on the Nathaniel Joseph commitment after this weekend. I know you said good news that he is coming to campus and assume no news is good for Clemson but really think he is special and would love for him to be a Tiger.
Joseph did in fact make it to campus, along with eight of his family members. There is still a long way to go until the early signing period, but based on some things I have been told, I think Clemson did what they needed to do to hold on to Joseph for now.
That by no means that he won't back off his commitment at some point in the future, as there are no guarantees. He is a rising high school senior that has a tremendous amount of pressure on him, and it's coming from all sides. However, I would also caution against believing everything that is being put out there. This is his second visit this year, and the staff did a great job of reminding him, as well as his family, of why he committed to Clemson to begin with. At the end of the day, though, this is one that fans will just have to ride out.
Robbie: What 2024 QB made the biggest impression on you during the camp?
I spent much of the first day watching the quarterbacks and on that day, the two 2024 guys that stood out were Jadyn Davis and Jake Merklinger. Davis left town with an offer. His workout was that impressive. It wasn't perfect, but it's readily apparent why he is considered one of the top players at the position in the next recruiting class. He's got the arm strength, the accuracy and the moxie that you see in all bigtime quarterbacks.
Merklinger, out of Savannah, more than held his own working out alongside Davis. He throws a beautiful ball and was particularly sharp during both the morning and afternoon sessions.
Honorable mention goes to in-state 2024 QB Riley Staton, out of Grey Collegiate.
Kevin: The DL will definitely lose a lot of players after the upcoming season, do you see any of the potential 2023 recruits physically and technique wise that could come in and get significant two-deep reps as true freshmen?
"I'm looking for some plug-and-play guys, like right now. Day one, can come in and execute and play at a very high level. Right now, you know, if you're a recruit out there man, and you want to play at a big-time place and you wanna have an opportunity to play right now, this is the perfect spot." - Defensive ends coach Lemanski Hall during the spring.
To me, that quote says it all. The Tigers are basically looking at losing much of the two-deep along the defensive line, particularly at end, and this coaching staff knows it needs to replenish that talent with guys that are able to come in contribute right away. The 2023 board was set up with that in mind.
Current commit David Ojiegbe might need a little time to develop, but many of the other targets on the board are capable of coming in and competing for early playing time. Vic Burley, AJ Hoffler, Hunter Osborne, Keldric Faulk, Peter Woods, T.J. Searcy and Darron Reed are all guys that fit that bill, at least from a physical standpoint.
You never know how fast they will pick things up until they get on campus, but I am pf the opinion that most of the top targets are capable of coming in and earning playing time as freshmen.
TJ: Would you have rather had the last visit for recruits or the first? I think I saw where you said having the first wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Honestly, that is just a matter of opinion, there is no right or wrong answer. Sometimes it's good to get the last one, no doubt, but it's not always a bad thing when you are getting the first. For example, this past weekend in Clemson was the first official for many of the players on hand, with many having more scheduled throughout the rest of the month. Going first gave the coaching staff an opportunity to set the bar extremely high, knock it out of the park so to speak. And that is exactly what happened, judging by some of the reactions.
When the bar has been set so high with so many priority prospects, it raises their level of expectations for other visits, and while other programs are also capable of the kind of success we saw the Tigers have last weekend, it's not an easy task to pull off, and Clemson is second to no one when it comes to hosting these large recruiting events.
Do you have any recruiting questions that you want to ask? If so, just let us know. Shoot us an email at jp@clemsonmaven.io or shoot us a DM on Twitter.
The Tigers, who went 10-3 in 2021 and finished 14th in the final Associated Press Poll, are the fourth team on FanDuel Sportsbook's list to win it all in 2022.