Dabo Swinney climbed up on his soapbox for a minute earlier this month to make his case against the star-rating system.

“I think the interesting thing about recruiting — I just think it’s all backwards,” he said. “To me, what we should be doing today, we should be coming out and assigning stars to the guys that came in four and five years ago. Their star should be assigned today.”

Up next in our multi-part series on Clemson’s past recruiting classes is the final third of the 2010 signing class.

According to Rivals: A five-star prospect is considered to be one of the nation’s top 25-30 players, four star is a top 250-300 or so player, three-stars is a top 750 level player, two stars means the player is a mid-major prospect and one star means the player is not ranked.

The ranking system ranks prospects on a numerical scale from 6.1-4.9.

6.1 Franchise Player; considered one of the elite prospects in the country, generally among the nation’s top 25 players overall; deemed to have excellent pro potential; high-major prospect

6.0-5.8 All-American Candidate; high-major prospect; considered one of the nation’s top 300 prospects; deemed to have pro potential and ability to make an impact on college team

5.7-5.5 All-Region Selection; considered among the region’s top prospects and among the top 750 or so prospects in the country; high-to-mid-major prospect; deemed to have pro potential and ability to make an impact on college team

5.4-5.0 Division I prospect; considered a mid-major prospect; deemed to have limited pro potential but definite Division I prospect; may be more of a role player

4.9 Sleeper; no Rivals.com expert knew much, if anything, about this player; a prospect that only a college coach really knew about

David Beasley – 3-star OL (5.7)

Beasley emerged as a regular starting guard for Clemson in 2012. By the time he was a senior, he was named honorable mention All-ACC. For his career, he logged 52 knockdowns in 1,917 snaps over 42 games (30 starts). Rivals’ rating of Beasley proved to be accurate.

Kalon Davis – 3-star OL (5.6)

Davis worked mostly as a reserve in his first two seasons on the field. By 2013, he was a part-time starter. As a senior in 2014, played 903 snaps over 13 games, all of which he started. An All-ACC honorable mention pick, Davis also logged 23 knockdown blocks that season. As was the case with Beasley, Davis’ rating was accurate.

Gifford Timothy – 3-star OL (5.5)

Timothy’s football career ended prematurely, because of injuries. In 28 games (17 starts), Timothy totaled 19 knockdown blocks over 1,128 snaps, most of which were at right tackle. Timothy was on the way to being in the conversation as an underrated prospect out of high school.

Tra Thomas – 3-star DT (5.5)

Thomas transferred out of the program the summer before what would have been his third season on the field at Clemson. Prior to a move to the offensive line, Thomas played 19 snaps over five games at defensive tackle. Because of his lack of production at Clemson, Thomas’ rating was inflated.

Martin Jenkins – 3-star DB (5.5)

Jenkins played through a litany of injuries throughout his career, which saw him work at cornerback and nickel back. He had 66 tackles, four tackles for loss, one sack and a 52-yard interception return for a touchdown in 738 snaps over 42 games (eight+ starts). Jenkins bad luck with injuries kept him from going much past the 5.5 rating.

Sam Cooper – 3-star TE (5.4)

Cooper battled through injuries during his final two seasons at Clemson. For his career, he had 18 receptions for 163 yards and three touchdowns in 956 snaps over 48 games (11 starts). Cooper served primarily as a role player at Clemson, so his 5.4 rating is accurate.

Three other additions to the class never played a down of football at Clemson:

Ricky Chaney – 3-star LB (5.6)

Jake Nicolopulos – 3-star LB (5.6)

Evan McKelvey – DB (NR)

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