By Will Vandervort.
By Will Vandervort
Unlike the NFL Draft, a school does not sign the best player available, instead they fill their needs.
“We just do not sign guys to sign them,” Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney said. “We want to feel like they fit a specific need. We think long term. We also think about next year.”
As Clemson gets set to sign its 2013 Class on Wednesday, the Tigers are definitely filling in the holes or needs, if you will. Clemson is expected to sign at least 18 new members for the 2013 squad and could sign as many as 22 before it is all said and done.
Of the 18 kids that are expected to sign, three are defensive backs and two more could send in their letters-of-intent (LOI) to Clemson. Mackensie Alexander, a five-star cornerback prospect from Florida, has Clemson down as one of his final three schools, while safety Adrian Baker, also from Florida, will decide between Clemson and Oklahoma.
The Clemson Insider is expecting Baker to send in his LOI to Clemson on Wednesday and in the last few days, we have learned that Alexander to Clemson is gaining some momentum. If the Tigers are able to land both, it will be a big finish for a class that desperately needed to get some quality depth and skill in the secondary.
In 2012, though the defense overall improved, the secondary consistently gave up big plays. Opponents averaged 240.3 yards per game, threw 23 touchdown passes and had 45 completions of 20 yards or more.
Granted, all of that cannot be blamed on the secondary. The pass rush at times in 2012 was non-existent, but it did get better. The Tigers finished the year with 34 sacks, which ranked third in the ACC and 20th nationally. Not bad considering they had just seven total sacks after six games.
To prove the need this year was more in the secondary than up front, Clemson had four sacks and seven quarterback pressures on NC State quarterback Mike Glennon, yet still gave up nine pass plays of 20 yards or more, including touchdown passes of 77, 49, 18 and 29 yards.
And don’t think recruits like Baker and Alexander don’t recognize these kinds of numbers, plus the fact Clemson lost three starters to graduation and had a reserve transfer out. Guys like Baker and Alexander know they have a legitimate shot to come in and make an impact right way at Clemson, where at some other schools they might be a backup or even redshirt as freshmen.
“There is so much more information. They know everybody,” Swinney said in general terms about recruits in this day and age of recruiting. “They know who is recruiting. They know if you have two spots for a running back, this school has one spot for a running back, they all know… The way recruiting has changed these days you have to make decisions on 10th graders. You have to make decisions on guys right then because if you don’t, you are behind and you are not going to have a chance to recruit them.”
Besides defensive back, Clemson is also planning on signing three wide receivers in Mike Williams, T.J. Green and Kyrin Priester, all four-star prospects, to help fill the void where DeAndre Hopkins left last month to enter the NFL Draft and the graduation of Jaron Brown.
Though the Tigers will more than likely miss out on a few guys on the defensive line, like defensive end Carl Lawson and defensive tackle Montravius Adams, they are still expected to sign four-star defensive tackle Scott Pagano from Hawaii and defensive end Dane Rogers. 4-Four-star defensive ends Shaq Lawson and Ebenezer Ogundeko are already on campus.
In other words, Clemson has definitely met its needs with the 2013 Class and anyone else they are able to sign is just icing on the cake.