Tiger Tracker: All Clemson Recruiting Mailbag
You've got recruiting questions and we have the answers.
Welcome to All Clemson's recruiting mailbag, where we will answer your weekly 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 where circumstances can often change in a flash.
With that in mind, let's dive in.
Dbal68: What is likely to be the recruiting plan for 2023 RBs during the season and up to signing day? Is it on to more one at a time RB offers, or done?
This leads me on to the 2024 RB class (please humor me). Is Clemson close (building relationships) with any '24 RB prospects right now? If Sammy Brown (LB) and Jadyn Davis (QB) and reportedly 28 others have by "policy" committable offers, how can there be zero offers made yet to a '24 RB prospect? Is this another year of RB being NOT a position of need? I apologize that this is long, but please help me comprehend.
Running back is a position of need in the 2023 class, make no mistake. Clemson likes to carry five scholarship backs and right now has just four, although the staff did reward walk-on Domonique Thomas with a scholarship recently technically pushing that number to five. So there is a need, but I am of the opinion it isn't a DIRE need.
What I mean by that is I don't think it is imperative that Clemson sign a Top-5 caliber running back in this class. Will Shipley, Kobe Pace and Phil Mafah all still have multiple years of eligibility remaining even after the 2022 season. And the coaching staff is also convinced they hit on Keith Adams Jr., although he will need some time to develop.
Having that kind of talent, with all expected back in 2023, allows the coaches the luxury of being extremely selective. The same way they were in the 2022 cycle when the Tigers had more than five scholarship backs on the roster at the start of last season.
Even still, the coaches took some big swings in this class. They went after Richard Young and Justice Haynes, two of the top five backs in the class. They tried to get in on Cedric Baxter and went after Jeremiah Cobb hard, both arguably Top 10 players at the position. They just didn't land any of those guys.
To answer the first part of your question, though, yes, I fully expect Clemson to remain very methodical with their approach to signing a running back in this class. If they can not get current top target Chris Johnson on campus for a visit fairly early in the season, expect them to move on fairly quickly. Names to keep an eye on are John Randle and Jamarion Wilcox. They will absolutely take one in this class.
As for 2024, no running backs have been offered yet. Those running backs are just starting their junior seasons as we speak. Many backs don't break out until their junior seasons. It will be a big position of need in 2024, though, so look for the staff to possibly take multiple backs in the next recruiting cycle. Also, while there have been no offers, that doesn't mean no relationships are being cultivated.
I will also add that while it may be frustrating for fans, it's really not a new approach, as Clemson has been extremely meticulous when it comes to recruiting running backs. That goes back to well before C.J. Spiller took over as running backs coach. Only five were offered in 2022, just four in 2021 and only six in 2020, meaning you can probably expect that to remain the strategy going forward.
Keegan: Is Clemson going after another safety with the Lannden Zanders' departure from the team? Or another offensive lineman? What’s taking so long with RB?
This was very likely Zanders' final season with Clemson, meaning that is a spot they were likely already looking to fill coming into the class. The staff already has two safeties on board in this class in Rob Billings and Kylen Webb, and barring an unexpected loss during or after the season, I think they stick with those two.
Offensive linemen Ian Reed, Zechariah Owens and Harris Sewell are all already committed in this class, giving Thomas Austin three blue-chip prospects in his first recruiting cycle. While the staff would like to possibly add one more tackle, they won't just take one to take one. They will be very picky. It's quite possible they end up sticking with the three guys they already have.
Check my answer to the previous question regarding the running backs.
TigerNE_CU: Will there be more offers made to DEs soon?
Maybe we now know why the staff was holding off when it comes to offering 2023 DE Daevin Hobbs. 2023 DE Tomarrion Parker, who decommitted from Penn State on August 9, announced a Clemson offer just days after backing off his verbal pledge to the Nittany Lions.
While both are extremely talented players and are ranked similarly, there has been a longstanding relationship in place with Parker that wasn't there with Hobbs. Parker worked out for the coaching staff at one of Dabo Swinney's high school camps in the summer of 2021 and Lemanski Hall went and scouted one of his games late last year. So he's been on the radar for quite some time.
However, at the beginning of the year, the two parties started trending in opposite directions. Maybe that had something to do with Brent Venables leaving for Oklahoma, maybe not, but either way, the staff is all in on Parker now.
Expect the Top 100 talent to visit for the home opener against Furman. That is going to be an unofficial visit, though, so maybe he gets back for an official at some point later in the season. Florida is also heavily involved and will get a visit. Tennesse is also attempting to get him in on a visit.
I will also add that Parker told me in a conversation last summer that his father was a longtime Clemson fan. Maybe that factors in. It certainly can't hurt. The Tigers have also had some recent success recruiting players out of Central High in Phenix City, Alabama. Most will recall that's where former players Justyn Ross and Ray Thornton attended high school, as did current wideout E.J. Williams.
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.
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