Clemson football: Recruiting updates as All In Cookout is upon us

After a prosperous June and early July Clemson football recruiting has slowed, at least in the public eye, as July heads towards August.

As we can attest to before the June rush of commits, fans don’t like it when things are quiet on the recruiting front.

On the other hand, there’s not a lot of news at the moment, so I’m not going to make it up, just share a few updates and thoughts.

Clemson is still looking for a running back in this class and is in an interesting dilemma. With the three-headed monster of Will Shipley, Kobe Pace and Phil Mafah at running back the Tigers are deep and talented at the position.  That said, one injury or transfer means they’re suddenly thin and while there are some pieces on campus that could likely be the third guy if that happens, the coaches would like to add to the room in the 2023 cycle.

To that end, Christopher Johnson, a four-star out of Fort Lauderdale is the current prize the Tigers are after.  Thought to be a heavy Miami lean, Johnson hasn’t committed yet, so there’s still opportunity for the Tigers – maybe. I haven’t heard a lot about him either way, but if the coaches haven’t moved on, that means they feel they are still in it, at least for now.

Our friend, JP Priester over at AllClemson.com says this recruitment may go on for a while.

With 17 commitments already on hand Clemson football is looking to round out the 2023 cycle with a few specific pieces of the puzzle

One name we’ve heard from a couple of different people is defensive lineman Daevin Hobbs out of Concord, North Carolina.  Many believe Hobbs will ultimately end up at North Carolina and he has three crystal balls pointing in that direction, including one from Steve Wiltfong.

Others have suggested that in delaying his commitment that Hobbs is waiting to pounce on a Clemson offer should it come.  We shall see.

Safety Robert Billings of Alpharetta, Georgia is scheduled to be on hand for the cookout and despite his three-star status and overall ranking, Billings has some serious reported offers.

Last week JP thought Billings would be joined by 4 star DL Kayden McDonald of North Gwinnett, but it looks like that has changed.

Outside of those names, it appears that four-star slot target Ronan Hanafin is not expected to attend and the general feeling is Notre Dame is the team to beat here.  There are two crystal ball predictions for Notre Dame on Hanafin and the predictors have been very accurate as far as 2023 cycle goes.

Mr. Priester thinks the three Irish commits at wide receiver so far could impact Hanafin’s decision, which is expected sometime before his senior season.  Interesting to say the least, because when those crystal balls were pointed to Notre Dame their wide receiver class was not as full as it is now.  Jaden Greathouse could turn out to be a help to the Tigers after all, in a roundabout way.

It doesn’t sound like a big splash will be made at this year’s cookout, but with 17 commitments already on board that’s not necessarily what the Tigers need at this point (though we’d take it, for sure).

Right now, it seems more of fill the gaps and build depth, with two obvious gaps being running back and slot.