We have been crunching some numbers lately to try to see how Clemson matches up with their opponents.  We are currently in the process of putting together a pretty comprehensive recruiting database for the Tigers and our opponents.  Today we will examine these items from a distance to get a better grasp of how Clemson stacks up based purely on talent alone.

While we realize that talent alone will not win you football games, it definitely helps if the most talented players on the field are on your team.  We also realize that there are some busts and some players who are underrated coming out of high school.  It is difficult to objectively make adjustments and we feel that the best way to move forward is to utilize the "experts" rankings and assume that the AVERAGE accurately reflects talent recruited on an annual basis.

We will also be using this data over the course of the season to better examine how Clemson matches up with its opponent each week of the season.  I think this data and the visuals that it will provide will be interesting to see.  We will also be looking for trends to help us better anticipate future performances.  So hit the jump and dig through the data with us!

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Colton Walls, a 6'2 225lb MLB from Latin HS in Charlotte NC, son of former Carolina Panther Wesley Walls, has been offered and committed to Clemson today. He is Clemson's 16th commitment (and first LB) and had official offers from Memphis and Duke, with interest from UNC and Vandy. He was recruited by Dan Pearman with Kevin Steele, who coached for the Panthers while Wesley was in his heyday at TE.

From looking at his film though, I see nothing that would cause me to offer. It is just OK. He does not have great speed (4.7 40), but seems to read his keys properly. His size is good and he has good strength so he gets off blocks fine. Technique in pass drops is average and needs work. I will point out that LB film is tougher to gauge in a few minutes than is lineman film.

There is no one to my knowledge at this HS we are going for that is a bigger name either. 

Walls had 115 tackles and 7 sacks last season as they won the state championship.

We should take 3 or 4 LBs in this class, and 21-23 signees overall, and this one is in my opinion a waste of a scholarship. They could've done better here and this is as bad a take as Adam Humphries.

Jeff Zelevansky - Getty Images

CJ deserved to be in NY for the Heisman presentation no matter how you slice it.

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Taking an idea someone gave us for things to talk about in the offseason, we've decided to review the most recent graduating class and current seniors and see whether Rivals and Scout got their ratings right in the first place. I have my own thoughts about what I take star ratings to really mean, and it always becomes a point of contention between people who live by the ratings and those who trust the staff to make evaluations regardless of rating.

The 2006 signing class was ranked #16 by Rivals, #22 by Scout and #13 by ESPN, behind FSU in the ACC rankings. Miami was ranked behind us only in the ESPN rankings in that year, and ahead in both Rivals and Scout. ESPN does not have star ratings for 2006, but they give a "grade" rating that I've turned into an equivalent star rating based on how they have it set up currently.

Notice the lack of OL in this group. Is it any wonder that we are short on quality linemen now? On the whole I'd say the scouting services were not terribly off the mark. They were on the mark with some and well off with others.

Whats your opinion on the 2006 class as a whole?

Grady Jarrett (6'2 280) of Conyers GA committed to the Tigers today soon after receiving his offer from Dabo. He's rated a 2-star by Rivals and hasn't picked up much more interest in the Spring Evaluation Period, but he is on campus with a ton of guys rated at 4-stars right now, and they are saying he is really holding his own and blowing people up in 1on1s. I think this one is a diamond in the rough player.

Jarrett plays Strongside DE for Rockdale but he will be moved to DT at Clemson. From the film they appear to be a multiple-front but 3-4 based team, so a DE is almost the same as a DT. Now when we get Philip Dukes we are likely done on the D-line. I wouldn't be surprised if Jerome Maybank ended up at OG now either, he has a Guard's body already anyway.

Looking at his film, I'm having a hard time seeing why he was rated at just 2-stars. Perhaps it was his lack of height, and lack of pure speed (5.1 40), but he keeps his pads low, explodes out of his stance, and appears to manhandle whomever is matched across from him. He looks more like a NT than a 3-tech but he'll play both.

Last year he had 101 tackles, 18.5 sacks and over 30 TFL.

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Dorman WR Charone Peake (6'3 200, 4.4), the #6 player at his position nationally, has committed to Clemson this morning. He was offered by pretty much everyone. He was recruited by Jeff Scott.

According to multiple sources he had been a silent for some time now, but went public today. This is partly why I've been all over the staff on the Humphries offer. It was not a Daniel Andrews-Jamie Harper type of deal though.

I have seen Peake many times in person, on the sideline and the stands, as I said in the recruiting review last week. I've stood beside him and can vouch for the size stats. He has a frame to put on another 10-15 easy in my opinion, and already has a strong lower body. I can also vouch for his electric speed. He has exceptional ability to make his cuts in route running, something our current receivers don't do so well.

I will point out that Dorman's offense has been shifted to a little more wildcat and zone reads than the pass-happy system Dave Gutshall ran immediately after taking that job. Nowadays theyre fairly well balanced but with the defensive capability they've had the last ~5 years they haven't had to throw quite as often either. Their QB is a short guy and is not nearly the best passer they've had come through there, so Peake doesn't have the benefit of a strong QB to get him the ball every play. Mostly what I saw him do was run slants and streaks and just get open by running past people. He's so quick that a juke move with his speed leaves most defenders on the ground. Most corners respond by playing very soft and most teams put a FS over the top to his side every down. He pulled in over 50 catches for almost 900 yards last season as Dorman won the Big 16 over Byrnes.

Like most superstar players in this area, he will take plays off. Sometimes I saw him not giving much effort in blocking and when the play went away from him I did see him loafing around sometimes.

As far as hands I noticed no big problem with drops; usually he catches everything that his QB can get to him. I think the lack of phenomenal catches is more indicative of his QB's ability, but it is a knock against Peake that some have levied.

I expect him to avoid a RS unless these guys just dominate this fall. He'll play on the outside at X or Z, I'm leaning towards X right now (Dye's position).

Isaiah Battle, a 3-star (rivals, #38 position) 6'7 270lb tackle from Virginia committed to Clemson today at Swinney's camp. He was recruited by Andre Powell. He has only official offers from New Mexico and ECU, but Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Georgia are showing interest and may offer him soon. He's one of those guys who needs significant coaching and his football training has been pretty low.

Basically he's a project, and the main misgiving here is WHO we have to train him. His frame is huge and his speed is very good (4.83 40), he's strong, but needs coaching. He plays at a prep school and is a raw prospect who will need to redshirt a year and probably sit one more, but that's what you want at OL anyway. His film below is at DE, and I haven't seen much at OT, so i'll just go by Bartow's assessment here.

His football IQ is low and he’s barely even scratched the surface in any regard. In position drills that’s noticeable. They did a lot of stuff he’s never even done before. Battle’s ability to bend is questionable, doesn’t use extension of his blessed long arms and seems very uncomfortable moving/bending.

As the morning went on and they got into 1-on-1s, that’s where you can see small samples of his upside. He didn’t go on the ground once and got the better of all of the defensive linemen he faced. But again, he’s very, very raw and his best ball is way ahead of him. Physically he looks like Trevor and Devin Booker a little bit.

What you like about Battle is that he’s barely scratched the surface, is an athletic big, an upside guy and as a guy standing and watching next to me this morning put it mildly ‘you can $hit out something that big.’ Has the size and length you ideally want for the left tackle position.

With Clemson recruiting possibly building some summer momentum, and camp starting up, its time to review what we've got and what we need to bring in for 2011 cycle. I try not to get too involved in the drama of recruiting 17 year old kids until January, but this class is going to be good enough to warrant some review.

I'll refer you back to our 2010 need assessment for what we absolutely must bring in for next year, and the 2010 scholarship list that is updated with the loss of Cumbie and the addition of McElvey.

Our opinion on Clemson's needs:

2 QB - this was 2 even before Parker was drafted. Commitment: Tony McNeal, underrated at a low 3-star. That will come up, as Rivals agrees. He played on one bad knee last year.

2 RB - Filled. Commitment:  Mike Bellamy and Marlin Lane, both top national recruits.

2 TE - Commitment: Eric MacLain, top national recruit.

2 WR - Commitment: Adam Humphries, who is a Dabo offer.

2-3 Offensive Tackles, 1 Center - Commitment: Ryan Norton at Center, Shaq Anthony at Tackle. Anthony was recently rated at 4-stars, which I thought was a bit high. OT Isaiah Battle committed today.

2-4 DL - Commitment: Jerome Maybank, DeShaun Williams, Joe Gore

3 LB

1 Safety - Filled. Commitment: Brandon Ellerbe

2 CB - Filled. Commitment: Geraldo Orta, Robert Smith (though he could play S)

As things stand, Ellerbe may be shaky with his interest in UNC, but he is still committed. We appear done in the secondary unless they make a decision on someone not qualifying to enter school. They are handing out offers still, so its a question mark. We also appear done at RB, which is a shame because we could probably bring in another 4/5 star player here if we wanted. In our opinion we should oversign at OL and LB in this class.....If we bring in fewer than 4 offensive linemen total I'm going to call it a failure.

Strangely enough we have no commits at LB, a dire need in terms of depth. What is Steele doing?

OUR Wishlist

This is my own wishlist, not anything from any of the recruiting services, and I'm going by the film I have seen myself or players i've seen in person in basing my opinion. I take the above commitments into account and adjusted what I think we must get based on what we already have committed, not just the talent of the player.

As of now Clemson should sign at least 18, but likely just over 20 players. Of last year's class, only Chaney has definitely not qualified. M. Bryant appears to have just done it with his test scores, as has Justin Parker. CB Garry Peters is one to worry about at the moment.

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Joe Gore, 6'6" 262lb OT/DE from Lake Waccamaw NC committed to Clemson today during his stay at summer camp. He has offers from NC State, Maryland, Texas Tech, SC, Virginia Tech and Duke amongst a reported 37 offers. NC State was really the other school in it for this guy.

He was recruited by Dan Brooks and could play either DL or OT for us, but given his weight is likely slotted for DE first. I would put him there. He would definitely have to redshirt to play on the OL. Tigerillustrated's two articles are contradictory on which he's being recruited to play.

This is a guy who has blown up during the recent Spring Evaluation Period, but theres so little film that its hard to get a good read on why. I think his explosiveness is a main factor, though he will need to work on keeping his pads lower (always a problem for a tall guy). He did have 12 sacks, runs a 4.7 40 and should easily qualify.

Scout rates him at 3-stars as the #46 OT, and Rivals ratings are not finished yet.

Scout TV film