Clemson Football: What 4-star OL Dietrick Pennington brings to the Tigers
The 2021 Clemson football recruiting class picked up a big-time commitment earlier this week
Earlier this week, the Clemson football program picked up another commitment from a talented 4-star when OL Dietrick Pennington announced his decision.
Pennington, who was the second 4-star of the week to commit to the Tigers, is rated as the No. 13 offensive guard in the nation and the No. 4 overall player from the state of Tennessee.
Pennington is the third interior offensive lineman to commit in this 2021 Clemson football recruiting class, joining 4-star OG Marcus Tate and 4-star C Ryan Linthicum.
Though the Tigers were always considered a prominent part of Pennington’s recruitment, his commitment came as a bit of a surprise after many believed he was heavily considering LSU and Auburn. He also had Florida State and Georgia in his final group.
What Pennington brings to the Clemson football program
Though it should be expected that the Tigers will play Pennington at offensive guard, he does have the acumen to move outside to the right tackle position with the right development if needed.
At this point, though, I’d expect him to stay at guard. That big 6-foot-5, 326 pound frame will prove to be a much-needed asset as the Tigers continue to take the next steps in program building.
Pennington is the absolute picture of what you want from an interior lineman.
He is dominant, does an excellent job run-blocking and has solid footwork. His power, explosiveness and strength is what had him offers from basically every SEC school.
Pennington will join a class of already-talented offensive linemen and is a guy that I could see competing for starter reps fairly early on in his career.
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Clemson will still look to sign at least one offensive tackle in this class and the two major targets are both 5-stars: Tristan Leigh and Nolan Rucci. It will be interesting to see what happens with their recruitments as the Tigers continue to trek towards the top of the 2021 recruiting cycle.