Clemson has 5 freshmen who are 5-stars and almost all of them are playing and starting. I get your point that you think our previous starters were so weak it was easier for our guys to get playing time at key skill positions (I think that’s what you’re saying), but there’s a ton of 4-star and 5-star guys out there who aren’t showing out enough to get the awards.
Clemson signed 5 5-star players last year. A QB, RB, DT, DE, and LB
The QB has thrown 16 passes
The RB has 9 carries (7th most on the team) and 0 receptions
The DT has 6 tackles (14th most on the team)
The DE has has 18 tackles (2nd most) and 2.5 sacks (tied for most)
The LB has 2 tackles (tied for 32nd most on the team)
So only 1 of their 5 star guys has significant playing time, and he’s one of their top defenders. But every ACC Rookie of the Week thus far has been an offensive player. Does that mean that he has been less impactful than Sims or Gibbs?
North Carolina was the only other ACC school to sign a 5-star player. He’s a DB, and has 1 tackle on the year. Now obviously tackles aren’t the best stat to show the production of DBs, but with only 1 tackle it’s easy to see that he’s not on the field very often. Their next highest rated recruit is a receiver who has 1 catch on the year.
Miami’s highest rated recruit was a DB who has 0 tackles on the year. Their highest rated offensive recruit was a receiver that has 2 catches on the year.
Florida State’s highest rated recruit has 0 catches on the year.
You act like I’m talking down about Sims/Gibbs or the rest of the team. I’m not at all. All I’m doing is pointing out the fact that they have a lot more opportunities to see the field than other freshmen do. Just like Jordan Williams who was named a pre-season Freshman All-American. That list was compiled by taking both talent/potential, as well as playing time opportunities. Is he legitimately one of the top 10 freshman OT in the country? Probably not. He’s solid, and is performing well enough, but he received that honor mostly because he was penciled in the starting lineup when most other freshmen are not. The same service that named him an All-American ranked him as the 43rd best OT in his class.
I’m really not sure what you’re trying to argue here. Cuse has posted the composite talent rankings before, and something like 40 of Tech’s top 50 highest rated players are either freshmen or sophomores. It’s no surprise that our freshmen are getting more opportunities than other schools’. That’s not a knock on the older guys, it’s just a fact. Aren’t we trying to improve our recruiting? If we’re trying to improve then that means we’re going to be bringing in more talented players? Correct? If there are more talented players coming in a taking playing time from older guys who probably aren’t as talented, does that mean that I’m talking down on the guys that were already here? No.
theacc.com
