ESPN recently ranked the top 60 true freshman seasons of all time in college football (subscription required).

Clemson is featured prominently on the list put together by ESPN’s Bill Connelly, with four former Tigers appearing in the top 45 – and one in the top five.

Trevor Lawrence checked in at No. 4 overall with his stellar true freshman campaign of 2018, when he started the final 11 games that year and helped the Tigers become the first major college football team in the modern era to go 15-0.

Lawrence, a consensus freshman All-America honoree, set school freshman records in passing yards, passing touchdowns and wins as a starting quarterback while becoming the first true freshman quarterback to lead his team to a national title since 1985.

“One of the most highly touted recruits in history, Lawrence somehow lived up to the hype,” Connelly wrote. “He threw for 3,280 yards, 30 touchdowns and just four interceptions, and he somehow improved down the stretch: In his last four games, he completed 66% of his passes and threw for 1,185 yards, nine touchdowns and no interceptions as the Tigers charged to a 15-0 record and their second national title in three years.”

Lawrence is the top quarterback in ESPN’s ranking of college football’s greatest true freshman seasons ever.

Meanwhile, Clemson’s Anthony Simmons (1995) is ranked No. 18 overall on the list (No. 4 linebacker), while Clemson’s Robert O’Neal (1989) is No. 21 overall (No. 3 defensive back).

“A product of Spartanburg, South Carolina, Simmons was one of the best linebackers in the country from almost his first snap,” Connelly wrote. “A menace from sideline to sideline, he was named national freshman of the year after making 150 tackles, 11 for loss. Somehow, he topped that number in each of the next two seasons, becoming one of the most celebrated linebackers of the decade in the process.”

Added Connelly of O’Neal: “Big things were expected of the blue-chipper from Clarkston, Georgia, but it was still a surprise when he commanded a spot in the lineup and just … kept … picking off … passes. He had eight interceptions by the end of his first year, and the Tigers finished fourth in scoring defense, holding eight opponents to 10 or fewer points in a 10-2 campaign.”

William Perry rounds out the Clemson players on ESPN’s list, which slots his 1981 true freshman season at No. 44 overall and as the seventh-best among defensive linemen.

“At 6-foot-3, 320 pounds, the player who would eventually be known as the Fridge was a game-changer,” Connelly wrote. “Danny Ford’s Tigers went from allowing 20.2 points per game in 1980 to 8.8 in 1981 thanks in part to the space-eater up front, who neutralized Nebraska’s Dave Rimington — the namesake of the award that goes to college football’s best center — in a 22-15 Orange Bowl win that clinched the school’s first national title.”

Former Pitt defensive end Hugh Green earned the No. 1 overall spot on ESPN’s list with his 1977 true freshman season.

While Clemson’s Sammy Watkins didn’t crack the top 60 overall, ESPN ranks his 2011 freshman season as the ninth-best among wide receivers/tight ends. As for the top 15 true freshmen of the last three seasons, Clemson linebacker Sammy Brown is ranked No. 12 by ESPN.