Clemson’s quarterback room grew by one on Sunday when five-star quarterback DJ Uiagalelei reported to campus with the other midyear enrollees in the Tigers’ 2020 signing class.
Uiagalelei is expected to jump right in and play the role of LSU’s Joe Burrow as Clemson’s scout team quarterback ahead of the Jan. 13 national championship game in New Orleans.
“It’s going to be cool. It’s going to be awesome,” Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence said of Uiagalelei mimicking Burrow. “Obviously he’s a great player, and really excited for him to be here. I haven’t even seen him since he got here yet. He moved in yesterday, so he’ll probably be in meetings and stuff today. But just really excited to have him here. Not only a great player, but a good person to add to the QB room. It will be a lot of fun.”
Lawrence does not know quite what to expect from Uiagalelei, the nation’s top-ranked signal-caller who threw for 10,496 yards and 127 touchdowns against just 11 interceptions during his career at St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.).
“I’ve never seen him play in person,” Lawrence said. “I’ve seen him throw and obviously he has a strong arm, and he’s just a big guy.”
The 6-foot-5, 243-pound Uiagalelei is a different animal coming out of high school than Lawrence has seen before.
“I haven’t seen anyone that mature and developed at that age,” he said. “Him already coming in at 240 or whatever he is, he’s already got the body that I’m not there yet, but I had to work on for like two years to get. So, that’s really cool to see a guy that far along.”
Lawrence and Uiagalelei have already gotten to know each other and met on multiple occasions during Uiagalelei’s recruiting process.
“I saw him here at camp and then he’s visited a few times and I spoke to him, and then after games he was here a couple times, and I think I saw him this summer out in California,” Lawrence said. “So, I’ve seen him quite a bit.”
It’s well known that Uiagalelei is an elite talent, but Lawrence likes the type of individual that the Tigers are getting in him off the field as well.
“He’s just a good person,” Lawrence said. “When I think of someone, that’s the first thing I think about is what kind of person he is, not the player. So, just a good person, good family and really excited for him to be a part of the QB room now, add another guy that’s just a great guy but also can play. Obviously that speaks for itself, but everyone knows that.”
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