On Monday, ESPN published an article ranking college football’s top 75 quarterbacks of the 2000s (subscription required), and two former Clemson stars are ranked among the top 15 with one in the top 10.
Deshaun Watson checked in at No. 6 on ESPN’s list.
Watson guided Clemson to consecutive College Football Playoff appearances, with the school’s second National Championship in 2016. The two-time Heisman Trophy finalist compiled a 32-3 record as a starter, throwing for 10,168 yards and 90 career touchdowns to go with 1,934 rushing yards and 26 more scores on the ground.
“Remember when “Clemsoning” meant “failing spectacularly on the big stage?” No? That’s because Watson came to town and flipped Dabo Swinney’s program from good to elite,” ESPN’s Bill Connelly wrote. “He averaged 4,351 passing yards and 867 rushing yards in 2015-16, first leading the Tigers to the CFP title game, then winning it the next year. “Clemsoning” now simply means “winning big.””
Trevor Lawrence isn’t ranked too far behind Watson and came in at No. 11 in ESPN’s ranking.
Lawrence led Clemson to a national championship as a true freshman in 2018 and concluded his career 34-2 (.944) as a starter. He exited as the winningest starting quarterback in Clemson history and completed 66.6 percent of his passes for 10,098 yards with 90 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. The 2020 Heisman Trophy runner-up also rushed 231 times for 943 career rushing yards and 18 rushing touchdowns.
“It was going to be almost impossible for Lawrence to meet the expectations set for him as an all-world recruit at Clemson. He surpassed them,” Connelly wrote. “The Tigers lost only twice in three years with him behind center, winning the 2018 national title and reaching two more CFPs. And he became one of the faces of a rising player advocacy movement as a junior as well.”
Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield took the top spot in ESPN’s rankings, with Auburn’s Cam Newton, Texas’s Vince Young, Florida’s Tim Tebow and Ohio State/LSU’s Joe Burrow rounding out the top five, in that order.
Xavier Thomas is back to win another championship. Dear Old Clemson has added signed posters from Thomas to our online store. For this weekend only they are on sale at an introductory price of only $30.
Now there is a new way you can support Clemson student-athletes. Purchase collectibles from Dear Old Clemson and the proceeds with go to support Clemson student-athletes. 
Dear Old Clemson is doing NIL the ‘Clemson way’, but we need your help to make sure we build a sustainable, repeatable model that will help keep Clemson competitive with the other top programs around the nation.
Dabo Swinney: “We need your assistance more than ever to provide meaningful NIL opportunities. Tiger Impact, Dear Old Clemson and other collectives allow student-athletes to utilize their voice and platform to maximize their NIL opportunities and strengthen their impact in the community.”
Graham Neff:
“Tiger Impact, Dear Old Clemson and other collectives need your support to help provide meaningful NIL opportunities for our student athletes. We are doing things the right way, the Clemson way with integrity as a non-negotiable and we fully support the mission of these groups.”
Join the Tiger Club or Lady Tiger Club to help these great student-athletes and help the Tigers compete at the highest level!
