Clemson Football Recruiting: Jake Venables breakdown
In the months leading up to National Signing Day I am going to be taking a look at each of the members of Clemson’s 2018 recruiting class as it continues to grow. Today’s edition features linebacker commit, Jake Venables.
Related Story: Analyzing 2018 Clemson Commit Braden Galloway
Strengths:
- Instincts- Venables trusts his eyes and then goes and makes a play. He diagnoses plays very fast.
- Physicality- Venables welcomes contact, big hitter.
- Athleticism- While he is not Tre’ Lamar, Venables is great in coverage and he has surprisingly fast closing speed.
- Coaches son- Being the son of any coach is an advantage, however, being the son of Brent Venables in specific is an immense advantage. Coaches son’s bring a certain level of intelligence and preparation to the table.
Weakness:
Jake Venables has to continue to add muscle, he still has a fairly raw frame. At the moment Venables is working on adding muscle and he seems to have gained a considerable amount of mass going into his senior year.
Outlook:
Just because he is Brent Venables son doesn’t mean he is going to play, but that doesn’t need to be stated. Venables will play at Clemson because he is without a doubt good enough to play. While he may not start until two or three years into his career, he will make an impact for the Tigers.
Clemson’s going to have a scrappy group of linebackers in two to three years with players such as Jamie Skalski, Logan Rudolph, Justin Foster and Venables, all of which are grinders. What’s important for Venables is continuing to get bigger, stronger and faster because he clearly has it mentally.
Next: Projected post-spring offensive depth chart