Clemson football loses recruiting battle to UGA & another isn’t looking good

Clemson football loses recruiting battle to UGA & another isn’t looking good

The Clemson football program has been known for hitting on its top targets at an extremely high rate on the recruiting trail, but that hasn’t been the case so far in 2022.

The Tigers lost a battle to Alabama just a few weeks ago when 5-star QB Ty Simpson chose the Crimson Tide over Clemson and Tennessee. The Tigers came back by gaining a commitment from trending 4-star Cade Klubnik, who many believe could have a ceiling just as high- or higher- than Simpson.

But the current flurry of events following Klubnik’s commitment have Clemson football fans scratching their heads, at least a little bit.

5-star S Malaki Starks- the No. 29 overall player in the nation according to the 247 Sports composite player rankings- chose Georgia over Clemson Thursday evening in what wasn’t much of a surprise.

Recruiting insiders expected that Starks, who has grown up in the area and ranks as the No. 2 player from the state of Georgia, would commit to the Bulldogs.

The Tigers stayed in contact and Starks was one of their top targets coming into the cycle, but Clemson fans could live with not landing him.

However, this next recruiting battle could hurt Clemson football in a much deeper sense

4-star LB Jalon Walker– the No. 65 player in the nation and the No. 4 OLB- is set to announce his commitment this Sunday.

For basically the entirety of his recruitment even heading into the early portion of this week, Clemson was considered the leader.

That is not the sentiment now as we close in just a couple of days from his commitment ceremony.

Two new 247 Sports insiders have put crystal ball predictions in this week in favor of Georgia and we might expect more before the week closes out.

While Walker reportedly hasn’t told any program of his decision as of yet, things are trending more and more like another Georgia commit. That would put the Bulldogs with 10 commits in the 2022 class with three 5-stars and seven 4-stars, while the Tigers would still just four commitments, all of which are 4-stars.

Missing out on Walker- if it does happen- will be a huge blow for Clemson football. This is a recruitment where the Tigers felt like they were the leaders and they simply didn’t close out. In addition, it will be interesting to see how him committing to Georgia might affect the recruitment of 5-star DT Travis Shaw, who has been considered a Clemson lean but has a relationship with Walker.