The Athletic recently ranked every five-star quarterback of the modern recruiting era (subscription required), with the 2026 cycle being the 25th of the modern era.
A couple of former Clemson signal-callers are ranked in the top 15 of the list, which The Athletic limited only to players who have already finished their college careers and who were five-star prospects coming out of high school.
Trevor Lawrence cracked the top five, coming in at No. 5 behind Florida’s Tim Tebow at No. 1, Texas’s Vince Young at No. 2, Florida’s Cam Newton at No. 3 and Florida State’s Jameis Winston at No. 4.
“Lawrence was the top prospect in the 2018 recruiting cycle, and he immediately delivered on the hype,” The Athletic’s Antonio Morales wrote. “He supplanted Clemson’s established starter, Kelly Bryant, after four games and led the Tigers to a national championship with a great performance (347 yards, three touchdowns) against Alabama in the title game.
“Lawrence guided Clemson to a 14-1 record and national championship appearance in 2019 and a Playoff trip in 2020. He was the Heisman runner-up in 2020, as well. He threw 90 touchdown passes to just 17 interceptions and rushed for 18 scores.”
Tajh Boyd, meanwhile, checked in at No. 15 in the ranking behind other QBs that just missed the top 10 – Auburn’s Bo Nix (No. 11), Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy (No. 12), Florida’s Chris Leak (No. 13) and Ohio State’s Terrelle Pryor (No. 14).
“Lawrence and Deshaun Watson are the Tigers’ most celebrated quarterbacks, but Boyd led Clemson to the ACC title in 2011 — its first in 20 years — and threw for 11,904 yards and 107 touchdowns in his career,” Morales wrote. “His 32-8 record as the starter between 2011 and 2013 set the stage for what was to come for the Tigers.”
A couple of other former five-star QBs who went to Clemson appeared in The Athletic’s ranking.
DJ Uiagalelei is ranked No. 37 as one of the five-stars “who started for a season or two with middling production,” while Hunter Johnson is ranked No. 57 as one of the five-stars who never started a full season.
Deshaun Watson didn’t make the ranking, as he didn’t meet The Athletic’s criteria for the list.