By Hale McGranahan.
A trio of Clemson defensive ends will be one at the conclusion of this season. That’s why there are a trio of highly-recruited
prospects are on board as commits for the 2015 haul.
Vic Beasley, Corey Crawford and Tavaris Barnes will all be gone by the time Austin Bryant, LaSamuel Davis and Clelin Ferrell arrive next year.
By the time the 2015 season kicks off, the only defensive ends on the Clemson roster with game experience will be Shaq Lawson,
Kevin Dodd, Martin Aiken, Ebenezer Ogundeko and Dane Rogers. Lawson will be a junior while Aiken and Dodd will be a redshirt juniors. Ogundeko and Rogers will be redshirt sophomores. Richard Yeargin III will be coming off of his redshirt season.
Because Clemson won’t have any senior defenisve ends on next year’s team, it won’t be a priority position for the 2016 class. For now, it would appear that one defensive end will be added during that haul.
Here are a few guys we’re keeping an eye on for the Tigers’ class.
Rahshaun Smith – St. Frances – Baltimore, Maryland
Smith was among the contingent of St. Frances players to visit Clemson this past summer for the Dabo Swinney Football Camp. Defensive coordinator Brent Venables and defensive backs coach Mike Reed are both involved with Smith, who is very interested in Clemson. According to Rivals, Smith is a five-star prospect and is the No. 1 ranked defensive end in the country.
Chauncey Manac – Clinch County – Homer, Georgia
Clemson was one of the first schools to offer Manac, who visited for camp and the Florida State game last year. Clemson is in Manac’s top five with Georgia, Florida, Florida State and South Carolina. One of his teammates, 2015 cornerback Octavis Johnson, is committed to South Carolina.
Mykelle McDaniel – Grayson – Loganville, Georgia
Georgia might be the team to beat, but Clemson is very much in the mix for the three-star prospect. The Tigers have yet to extend an offer. If they do, they’ll be firmly in the mix with Georgia.
Janarius Robinson – Bay City – Panama City, Florida
A four-star prospect, Robinson holds a number of big-time offers, including Clemson, Florida State, South Carolina and others from the SEC. Over the summer, he visited Clemson, South Carolina, Tennessee, Michigan and Florida State.