Clemson football: Are Tigers finally taking OL recruiting to the next level?

The Clemson football program has been recruiting at a high level for quite some time under the leadership of Dabo Swinney.

The Tigers have scored on many big-name prospects over the past few years and things continue to trend in a upward trajectory, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still areas to work on.

Since Swinney has taken over this Clemson football program, the Tigers have seen many players go in the first-round and go on to be drafted. However, on the offensive line, that simply hasn’t been the case.

In Swinney’s tenure, Clemson has seen just six offensive linemen drafted. None have gone higher than that of Jackson Carman, who was selected in the second-round with pick No. 46 by the Cincinnati Bengals.

Carman was just the second 5-star recruit to sign with the Tigers at the position. The other? Mitch Hyatt, who was an All-American but went undrafted.

Clemson football has to take its offensive line recruiting to the next level

Of the perennial contenders for the National Championship this season- Clemson, Alabama, Oklahoma, Ohio State and Georgia- the Tigers are the only ones who won’t have at least one 5-star projected in their starting lineup on the offensive line.

Here’s a look at the breakdown of star-rating for each of the last five classes along the offensive line:

• 2017: 3 OL commits (one 4-star, two 3-stars) – 3.33 AVG star-rating
• 2018: 2 OL commits (one 5-star, one 3-star) – 4.00 AVG star-rating
• 2019: 4 OL commits (one 4-star, two 3-stars, one 2-star) – 3.00 AVG star-rating
• 2020: 6 OL commits (four 4-stars, two 3-stars) – 3.67 AVG star-rating
• 2021: 4 OL commits (one 5-star, three 4-stars) – 4.25 AVG star-rating

Two things can be true: We can trust the staff’s judgement and believe in their development process. We can also say that there has to be an increase in talent along the offensive line.

The past two recruiting classes, Clemson has taken in 10 offensive linemen who break down into one 5-star, seven 4-stars and two 3-stars. Recruiting rankings don’t tell the full story, but they do tell a story.

We can see over and over again that a higher percentage of 5-stars are taken in the draft. And we can see that a higher percentage of 4-stars are taken over 3-stars. Why? Because talent matters.

Tristan Leigh- who is set to enroll this summer- will be just the third 5-star offensive lineman to come to the Clemson football program since Swinney took over. That needs to change, at least slightly, in the future.

We’re not saying you can’t take 3-stars or that 4-stars aren’t good pickups. After all, there aren’t many 5-star offensive linemen in a given recruiting class.

That being said, Alabama has no trouble finding them and stockpiling them in many occasions. In the 2021 class alone, the Crimson Tide had two 5-star offensive line commits.

More than anything, Clemson football has to set a greater emphasis on offensive line recruiting and getting talent at the position. The Tigers have recruited with the best of the best at just about every other position (with just a few exceptions) but the offensive line has been lacking.

Things are starting to pick up in a big way- and we can see that in the last couple of classes and in this current class- but a continued emphasis and urgency is going to be needed for the Tigers to get the job done and compete at the highest level.