Clemson football: Tigers battling Florida for in-state 4-star recruit

Clemson football battling Florida for in-state 4-star recruit

The top tight end target for Clemson football in the 2022 recruiting cycle has named a leader and it’s not the Tigers.

Corey Bender of Gators Territory reported on Twitter Tuesday that 4-star TE Jaleel Skinner has labeled Florida as the leader in his recruitment, based off an interview conducted by Rivals’ Chad Simmons.

Skinner, a 4-star from Greer, SC, is rated as the No. 2 tight end in the nation and the No. 99 overall player, according to 247 Sports’ Composite Player Rankings. Skinner is the No. 3 overall player in the state of South Carolina, just behind 5-star CB Jeadyn Lukus and 4-star LB Jaylen Sneed.

Clemson football will have to nab Skinner from a hot Florida program in terms of tight end recruitments

Florida has gotten a lot of spotlight and many Gator fans have already begun to label their program as ‘TE U’ following the performance from Kyle Pitts this season and the fact that they’re bringing in former 5-star TE Arik Gilbert via the NCAA Transfer Portal from LSU.

The recruiting and development at tight end is strong at Florida and it’s going to take Clemson making a concerted effort to flip Skinner back to in-state.

Skinner is very familiar with the Clemson football program, but the Tigers are clearly behind, at least for the time being and hopefully that can change.

4-star WR commit Adam Randall has a tight relationship with Skinner and is planning to participate in a lot of summer activities with the tight end. Randall has been open about actively recruiting fellow prospects to Clemson and he may prove instrumental in getting the Tigers back at the top with the 4-star tight end.

In addition to Skinner, Clemson football is also recruiting 5-star Jeadyn Lukus (who we mentioned above) and have him pegged as one of their top overall prospects in the 2022 cycle.