Clemson football: Breaking down the WR position by star-ratings

Breaking down the Clemson football WR position by star-ratings

The Clemson football program has tokened itself as ‘WR U‘ over the last few years because of the volume and talent of wide receivers the Tigers have put in the NFL.

At one point back in 2011, Clemson had an entire wide receiver unit that would later end up as NFL-caliber receivers. Since that point, the Tigers have still consistently put receivers in the league and that has resonated well in recruiting.

That being said, Clemson football has taken a bit of a ‘step back’ in some ways when it comes to depth at the wide receiver position the past couple of years, especially last season. We once saw this group going 9-deep and, last season due to injuries and inexperience, the group stayed at around 5-deep for most of the year.

Can they turn it around and become a deeper unit yet again this season? The talent’s certainly there. Here’s a look at the wide receivers on the roster and their recruiting rankings coming out of high school.

*Keep in mind these ratings are based off the 247 Sports’ Composite Player Rankings*

• Will Swinney (NA in Class of 2018)
• Justyn Ross (4 star, No. 7 WR in 2018)
• Joseph Ngata (4-star, No. 9 WR in 2019)
• Frank Ladson Jr. (4-star, No. 7 WR in 2019)
• E.J. Williams (4-star, No. 13 WR in 2020)
• Ajou Ajou (3-star, No. 66 WR in 2020)
• Brannon Spector (3-star, No. 60 WR in 2020)
• Dacari Collins (4-star, No. 32 WR in 2021)
• Beaux Collins (4-star, No. 12 WR in 2021)
• Troy Stellato (4-star, No. 30 WR in 2021)

Clemson football is about to take that ‘WRU’ name back with some force

You’re talking about seven 4-stars (many of which were considered 5-stars by different publications) on the roster and five of those guys were top-15 WRs in their class.

While the Tigers haven’t brought in a consensus top-tier 5-star WR (ie a Sammy Watkins) in a little while, they are hitting on their top targets more times than not and they’re doing an excellent job of getting the type of guys they want in their system.

Look away from star-ratings for a second.

Here’s a look at the heights & weights of the players listed:

• Swinney (5’9, 185)
• Ross (6’4, 205)
• Ngata (6’3, 220)
• Ladson Jr. (6’3, 205)
• Williams (6’3, 190)
• Ajou (6’3, 215)
• Spector (6’1, 195)
• D. Collins (6’3, 200)
• B. Collins (6’3, 185)
• Stellato (6’0, 175)

You’re talking about six wide receivers who are at least 6-foot-3 or better and five who weigh more than 200 pounds.

Clemson has clearly set aside two types of receivers that it is looking for especially and you can see that in the heights and weights of the guys listed. You’re going to see those shorter, a bit smaller guys fill the slot while the bigger guys play the boundary.

This isn’t going to be a small wide receiver group by any means. This is going to be a deep room with a lot of options and that bodes well for the Tigers moving forward.