Midyear report: Several freshmen will get their chance in spring practice |
Clemson’s midyear enrollees will be front and center at Wednesday’s Fort Hill Clemson Club Recruiting Wrap but will take on an even more prominent role when spring practice starts in a few weeks.
Fifteen members of the Tigers’ 2024 recruiting class enrolled in January and are already on campus. They are all fully involved in classes and the offseason conditioning program while awaiting the start of mat drills. Spring practice begins on February 28th. The number of mid-years is a big number – there were just five back in 2014 (Demarre Kitt, Kyrin Priester, Chris Register, Artavis Scott and Deshaun Watson). There were 13 in 2015, but just seven in 2016 and four in 2017. That number jumped back to nine in 2018 and 17 in 2019. There were nine in 2022, but there were 17 last season, and that number included players like Khalil Barnes, TJ Parker, and Peter Woods, who all contributed. Swinney said the bigger numbers will be the wave of the future. "I will say this. It's awesome to be able to start that process for them. And honestly, the mid-year thing is just, it's a function of the portal,” Swinney said. “You know, there are so many of these high school kids, it's almost like if they're not a mid-year, they get they get pushed aside. You know, because everybody... they want these guys right now. It's really impacted the high school recruiting from that standpoint. So you're gonna continue to see that. Fifteen mid-years, I mean, that's like a norm now, right? “And even more for some places especially you know, if you bring in a bunch of portal guys, so you know, it just depends on who they are, where they are, you know, developmentally maturity-wise, especially, you know, their focus, because there's a lot that comes with it, but I've seen both, you know, guys come in mid-year, it really pays off and they play and I've seen guys come in mid-year and they don't work quite like they need to." Here is the list of midyears for 2024: LB Sammy Brown Who will get a good look from the coaches right away? It’s hard to say, but with the lack of depth at linebacker, Brown can show what he’s got. Kicker Robert Gunn struggled last season and was replaced by Jonathan Weitz, so you would expect Hauser to battle Gunn right from the start. There are seven more experienced safeties ahead of the freshmen, so they will be allowed to settle in. There is a lack of experienced depth at corner, and Mike Reed tells his players that they should expect to play right away, so they will get a long look. Clemson has plenty of depth along the offensive line, and you would expect that all three offensive line commits will redshirt. That leaves running back (Eziomume) and wide receiver (Wesco). Phil Mafah is the guy at running back, and Keith Adams is the back with the most experience after that. Behind him are the two redshirts from Jay Haynes and Jarvis Green from last season, and when Haynes is healthy, he's electric. But I would almost expect Mafah to get just enough work to stay sharp. He can spend the rest of the time mentoring these younger players and getting them ready to play. That includes Eziomume, who is a taller back (6-1, 205) with speed (he also runs track. As a junior, ran 100-meter times of 10.84, 10.91, and 10.94 in spring 2023. Also ran 200s of 22.23 and 22.49, while long jumping 19-7. He posted an 11.65 in the 100-meter dash in the spring of 2022). At wide receiver, the Tigers have dealt with significant injury issues for the last few seasons, and there has also been a talent issue as some of the highly-touted recruits haven't panned out. Wesco will get his shot this spring. The Tigers were short on game-breaking talent last season, and both will get a shot to play.
K Nolan Hauser
RB David Eziomume
WR Bryant Wesco Jr.
CB Corian Gipson
CB Tavoy Feagin
OL Elyjah Thurmon
OL Mason Wade
OL Watson Young
OL Ronan O’Connell
DE Adam Kissayi
DT Champ Thompson
S Ricardo Jones
S Joe Wilkinson
S Noah Dixon
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