Clemson signed 15 players on Wednesday, the first day of college football’s early signing period. That number includes 10 prospects ranked as a four- or five-star by the 247Sports composite, including four rated as five-stars. The Tigers inked four of the top 10 prospects in the country according to 247.
Clemson’s 2018 recruiting class is currently ranked fifth nationally by ESPN, but the Tigers still have work left to do before February. With another signing day set for Feb. 7, Clemson still has some room to add to the class. Here is a look at where the Tigers could go with the remaining space.
How much space is left?
Clemson will certainly sign more players in February, but even the Tigers don’t yet know exactly how many more they will take. It largely depends on which juniors depart early for the NFL, and other potential attrition. Clemson could sign as many as five more players.
“We’ll still have a handful left hopefully,” Clemson recruiting coordinator Brandon Streeter said. “But it depends. How these guys play in these last two games are going to be critical for their decisions on whether they’re going to go to the league or not. It is truly dependent on that.”
The coaches should gain clarity on the exact number of spots they have left in the next couple of weeks.
“The coaches can have a good idea hopefully here in the next couple weeks so we have our marching orders on OK, how many can we take and who can we take,” Streeter said. “There’s still some guys though for sure, no matter what happens, that we’re definitely going to take. So we’re excited about that.”
Which spots are left?
As it stands right now, there are several positions Clemson could add players at. The Tigers are looking to sign another wide receiver and a couple more defensive backs (safety, corner). They could potentially take another offensive lineman and maybe another linebacker.
Top remaining targets
TCI will have more in-depth features on Clemson’s remaining targets as we move forward, but we’ll lay out some of the biggest names still left on the board.
Five-star Justyn Ross is Clemson’s coveted receiver target. Four-star safety Leon O’Neal, five-star cornerback Patrick Surtain, five-star cornerback Brendan Radley-Hiles and four-star safety Matthew Hill, an Auburn commitment, are among the pool of candidates to fill the defensive back vacancies. Four-star tackles Richard Gouraige and Nicholas Petit-Frere are a couple of the offensive linemen we’re tracking, while four-star linebacker Dax Hollifield is just one of the other names we’re keeping an eye on.
Positions signed
QB (1) Trevor Lawrence
RB (1) Lyn-J Dixon
WR (1) Derion Kendrick
TE (1) Braden Galloway
OL (2) Jackson Carman, Jordan McFadden
DL (5) Xavier Thomas, KJ Henry, Justin Mascoll, Josh Belk, Darnell Jefferies
LB (2) Mike Jones, Jake Venables
DB (1) Kyler McMichael
K (1) BT Potter
Above photo: Phenix City (Ala.) Central 5-star WR Justyn Ross