Clemson Football: Grading the 2019 Recruiting Class
Clemson football officially finished up its 2019 class Wednesday, but the prospects were pretty much established well before National Signing Day.
The Clemson football coaching staff signed 29 guys to scholarships during the 2019 recruiting class and had several prospects choose to walk-on.
The class was good enough to be ranked as high as No. 8 in the nation and went as low as No. 12 in the nation. 247 Sports’ Composite Team Rankings had the Tigers right in middle as the No. 10 class in the country.
Although Tiger fans have grown accustomed to Clemson signing elite talent, the 2019 class is actually tied for the third-highest rated class in the history of Clemson football under Dabo Swinney.
The only classes ranked above this one were the 2018 class (No. 7 nationally) and the 2015 class (No. 9 nationally). The 2011 class is tied with this one as it was also ranked No. 10 nationally in 247 Sports’ Composite rankings.
So, let’s take a look at our final grade for the 2019 Clemson football recruiting class:
Report Card:
It really doesn’t matter about star-power. Dabo Swinney is the best evaluator of talent in the country, in my opinion.
The coaching staff selects these guys ahead of time and they hit on a lot of these 3-stars in the class early. That tells me they saw diamonds in the ruff, no matter what the recruiting services say.
The top prospects in this class come in the defensive backfield, in my opinion. You have 5-star Andrew Booth who will compete for a starting position this fall. He’s that good. Booth reminds me of Mackensie Alexander, but is even more physical and has a higher upside.
4-star S Joseph Charleston is the most underrated player in this entire class. He is going to be an elite safety and I’m looking forward to seeing him compete for playing time this season.
Sheridan Jones, a 4-star, is also a guy to take note of in that defensive backfield.
The Tigers filled their needs at tight end by signing 4-star Jaelyn Lay and got several guys along the defensive line to begin building depth back on that unit.
Clemson also signed a plethora of linebackers, all of which Brent Venables is very high on.
Next. 5 Tigers who outplayed their star-ratings. dark
Grade: A
Overall, I think this is exactly what the coaching staff wanted from the 2019 cycle. They got several guys that will develop and become great players over time mixed in with several players that are ready to compete immediately.