The Clemson Insider thought it would be interesting to analyze the matchups on Clemson’s 2020 schedule from a recruiting standpoint by going back and looking at where the Tigers’ projected starters were ranked as recruits versus where the projected starters for their opponents were ranked.
In this article, we break down Clemson’s game against South Carolina at Death Valley on Nov. 28. Below is a rundown of the projected starters for both teams, as it stands now, and their high school star ratings and prospect rankings according to the 247Sports Composite:
Clemson offense:
LT – Jackson Carman (5-star, No. 17 national, No. 2 OT)
LG – Matt Bockhorst (4-star, No. 240 national, No. 17 OG)
C – Cade Stewart (3-star, No. 2021 national, No. 163 OT)
RG – Will Putnam (4-star, No. 101 national, No. 5 OG)
RT – Jordan McFadden (3-star, No. 819 national, No. 66 OT)
TE – Braden Galloway (3-star, No. 858 national, No. 41 TE)
WR – Joseph Ngata (4-star, No. 52 national, No. 9 WR)
QB – Trevor Lawrence (5-star, No. 1 national, No. 1 QB)
RB – Travis Etienne (4-star, No. 213 national, No. 15 RB)
WR – Justyn Ross (4-star, No. 45 national, No. 7 WR)
WR – Amari Rodgers (4-star, No. 117 national, No. 16 WR)
Clemson defense:
DE – Justin Foster (4-star, No. 156 national, No. 11 WDE)
DT – Tyler Davis (4-star, No. 137 national, No. 12 DT)
DT – Nyles Pinckney (4-star, No. 327 national, No. 34 DT)
DE – Xavier Thomas (5-star, No. 3 national, No. 1 SDE)
SLB/NB – Mike Jones Jr. (4-star, No. 210 national, No. 15 OLB)
MLB – James Skalski (3-star, No. 680 national, No. 44 OLB)
WLB – Baylon Spector (3-star, No. 609 national, No. 45 S)
CB – Derion Kendrick (5-star, No. 26 national, No. 4 WR)
SS – Lannden Zanders (3-star, No. 781 national, No. 61 S)
FS – Nolan Turner (NR)
CB – Mario Goodrich (4-star, No. 114 national, No. 4 ATH)
South Carolina offense:
LT – Jakai Moore (3-star, No. 504 national, No. 29 OG)
LG – Sadarius Hutcherson (3-star, No. 1362 national, No. 63 SDE)
C – Eric Douglas (3-star, No. 504 national, No. 54 OT)
RG – Jovaughn Gwyn (4-star, No. 347 national, No. 15 OG)
RT – Dylan Wonnum (4-star, No. 148 national, No. 12 OT)
TE – KeShawn Toney (3-star, No. 685 national, No. 29 TE)
TE – Chandler Farrell (NR)
QB – Ryan Hilinski (4-star, No. 64 national, No. 2 PRO)
RB – Deshaun Fenwick (3-star, No. 536 national, No. 15 APB) or Kevin Harris (3-star, No. 702 national, No. 44 RB) or Marshawn Lloyd (4-star, No. 42 national, No. 5 RB)
WR – Shi Smith (4-star, No. 226 national, No. 10 ATH)
WR – OrTre Smith (4-star, No. 127 national, No. 19 WR)
WR – Xavier Legette (3-star, No. 704 national, No. 39 ATH)
South Carolina defense:
DE – Aaron Sterling (3-star, No. 426 national, No. 17 SDE)
DT – Zacch Pickens (5-star, No. 8 national, No. 1 DT) or Rick Sandidge (4-star, No. 141 national, No. 14 DT)
DT – Keir Thomas (3-star, No. 387 national, No. 18 SDE)
DE – Kingsley Enagbare (4-star, No. 269 national, No. 10 SDE)
SLB – Jahmar Brown (3-star, No. 708 national, No. 48 OLB)
MLB – Ernest Jones (3-star, No. 926 national, No. 62 OLB)
WLB – Sherrod Greene (3-star, No. 518 national, No. 30 OLB)
CB – Jaycee Horn (4-star, No. 209 national, No. 22 CB)
S – R.J. Roderick (3-star, No. 1238 national, No. 98 S)
S – Jammie Robinson (3-star, No. 393 national, No. 32 S)
CB – Israel Mukuamu (3-star, No. 655 national, No. 47 S)
Notes:
Our projected starting offensive and defensive lineups for South Carolina, as it stands now, includes nine former four-star prospects – only two fewer than Clemson has among its projected starters. However, the Tigers’ starting lineups feature four former five-star prospects, six former top-100 national prospects and 10 former top-150 national prospects, while the Gamecocks have only one former five-star recruit (defensive tackle Zacch Pickens), three former top-100 national recruits and six former top-150 national recruits among their projected starters according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. So as you can see, Clemson is the more talented team on paper, and based on these rankings, the Tigers have a great shot to extend their winning streak in the rivalry series to seven, which would tie for the longest streak by either team in the history of the rivalry. Clemson won seven straight from 1934-40.
**All ratings/rankings according to the 247Sports Composite
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