Clemson Football: 5 Recruits that changed the Tiger program under Dabo Swinney

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KANSAS CITY, MO – JANUARY 12: Sammy Watkins #14 of the Kansas City Chiefs stiff arms George Odum #30 of the Indianapolis Colts during the first half of the AFC Divisional Round playoff game at Arrowhead Stadium on January 12, 2019 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by David Euilitt/Getty Images) /

5. Sammy Watkins

Now, depending on which service you look at, Sammy Watkins wasn’t even the highest-rated receiver in the class of 2011 for Clemson football.

Charone Peake was actually a consensus 5-star and ahead of Watkins in some services, depending on who you used.

But, the reason I ultimately started with Watkins was because of what he meant to the Tigers after arriving on campus. He was a huge 5-star get for Dabo Swinney, no doubt.

But, Watkins was instrumental in creating WRU that we see now. DeAndre ‘Nuk’ Hopkins clearly benefited from having Watkins on the field with him and those two guys- along with other talented wide receivers like Adam Humphries, Peake and Martavis Bryant- helped establish WRU.

That would later lead to recruits like Justyn Ross, Deon Cain, Ray Ray McCloud, Amari Rodgers and many others choosing Clemson.

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