Clemson Football: Assessing the 2020 recruiting class at the dead period

As we progress through the recruiting dead period, let’s take a look at the 2020 Clemson football recruiting class here in the summer.

The 2020 Clemson football recruiting class is almost full for the cycle as we head into July.

Currently, we are at the ‘dead period’ in the NCAA recruiting cycle which means that prospects aren’t taking visits and that coaches can’t have face-to-face contact with those recruiting. Coaches can still contact recruits via email or their phone during this time.

With the dead period in effect, recruiting slows down a little. The elite prospects are taking part in camps like The Opening Finals this week and the Rivals Camp last week. As the cycle has slowed down- at least for the time being- here’s our assessment of the 2020 Clemson football recruiting class.

Class Rankings:

• 247 Sports Composite: No. 1
• 247 Sports: No. 1
• Rivals: No. 1
• ESPN: No. 1

In every major recruiting service, the Tigers have the No. 1 ranked class. Even ESPN- which has some of the prospects ranked a little lower than other services- has Clemson football No. 1 overall here in July.

Position Breakdown (18 overall commitments):

*Rankings according to the 247 Sports Composite Player Rankings*

• QB: 1 (DJ Uiagalelei, 5-star)
• RB: 2 (Demarkcus Bowman, 5-star; Kobe Pryor, 3-star)
• WR: 0
• TE: 1 (Sage Ennis, 3-star)
• OL: 5 (Walker Parks, 4-star; Mitchell Mayes, 4-star; Paul Tchio, 4-star; Bryn Tucker, 4-star; John Williams, 3-star)

Offensively, the Tigers are pretty much full at every position besides wide receiver. They have five really solid offensive line commitments and are happy with the additions of the No. 1 QB in the nation and the No. 2 RB in the nation.

• DE: 1 (Myles Murphy, 5-star)
• DT: 3 (Bryan Bresee, 5-star, Demonte Capehart, 5-star; Tre Williams, 4-star)
• LB: 2 (Sergio Allen, 4-star; Kevin Swint, 4-star)
• CB: 1 (Fred Davis, 4-star)
• S: 2 (RJ Mickens, 4-star; Tyler Venables, 3-star)

Defensively, there’s a ton of star-power along that defensive line. Bryan Bresee projects as a defensive tackle, but will likely line up at multiple spots similar to JJ Watt.

Remaining Targets/Scholarships:

With 18 commitments, it’s expected that the Tigers take between 3-5 more in this class. Most likely, we’ll be looking at that 22-23 range.

The two top remaining targets are 5-star LB Justin Flowe and 5-star DE Jordan Burch. Currently, the Tigers aren’t considered leaders for either of the prospects, but things can change over the course of a recruitment.

Clemson is also expected to take two wide receivers. Currently, the top three targets at wide receiver are 4-star Xzavier Henderson, 4-star EJ Williams and 3-star Ajou Ajou.

There are a few other prospects that are on the Tigers’ board, but this is what the top looks like at this point.