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Clemson vs Auburn 2012 Depth Chart Comparison

CLEMSON, SC - SEPTEMBER 17:  The Clemson Tigers celebrate a touchdown against the Auburn Tigers during their game at Memorial Stadium on September 17, 2011 in Clemson, South Carolina.  (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
CLEMSON, SC - SEPTEMBER 17: The Clemson Tigers celebrate a touchdown against the Auburn Tigers during their game at Memorial Stadium on September 17, 2011 in Clemson, South Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
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Clemson opens up the season Saturday against the Auburn Tigers in the the Georgia Dome. We'll see how this squad's recruited talent compares to our Clemson Tigers. Before we get into the analysis, I'll begin with the standard housekeeping items. The depth charts for both teams were attained DIRECTLY from the Clemson website (www.clemsontigers.com). A pdf version of this can be found here. I will go ahead and tell you that because of injuries and Monday depth chart adjustments, some items here may be a little out of place but in an effort to maintain consistency, I'll use both teams' depth charts as presented on the official website.

We should not have to tell you this, but some folks debate what to take from these articles. We expect you, the reader, to form an opinion of your own. Often we will give you our take on things, but you should independently form your own thoughts based on information out there. This article shows recruiting data for the depth chart roster as referenced above. It does not weigh experience nor does it evaluate coaching, preparation, etc... We think this is an interesting and valuable tool that is useful in overall program evaluation because there is a link between these star ratings and other metrics in both college football and the NFL.

Keep in mind as you look through this data that only players who were officially signed were given a "Star Rating". Players who were not signed could not be quantitatively assessed a recruiting rating. Such players get a "NA" rating and were not included in the averaged data. Again, all data was attained from www.Scout.com and www.Rivals.com. Players whose Scout/Rivals data was not available but were signed were assigned a "NR". We picked carefully through the data and believe all is correct. However, if we've overlooked an item we apologize in advance and ask that you point it out so that we can make the correction in our database.

Figure 1 and Table I both show an average of offensive players, defensive players, and specialist listed on the two-deep roster. Tables II through IV show the two-deep roster used for analysis along with the recruiting ratings for each player on the roster. A quick glance shows you Clemson looks to be slightly behind Auburn in recruited talent, particularly if you discount special teams recruiting as you likely should--particularly when you view how most teams present special teams depth.

On average, Clemson trails Auburn both in terms of average offensive talent ratings, with the specialists, and overall. Clemson was ranked higher in terms of defensive talent based on Rivals data yet trailed Auburn by 0.03 stars in the defensive Scout rankings. Overall, the quarter point advantage Auburn has on offense is the biggest item that stands out. I don't pay too much attention to the special teams rankings for many reasons and defensively Clemson appears to have an advantage or, at the very worst, is a talent wash with Auburn based solely on the items shown below.

Table I: Overall Recruiting Information

Team Recruiting Service Offense Defense Specialists Overall Average
Clemson Scout 3.25 3.40 2.89 3.27
Rivals 3.25 3.57 2.67 3.32
Average 3.25 3.48 2.78 3.29
Auburn Scout 3.52 3.43 3.56 3.49
Rivals 3.60 3.43 3.22 3.47
Average 3.56 3.43 3.39 3.48

Depth_chart_comparison_medium

Figure 1: Overall Recruiting Data

Table II: Offensive Comparison

Clemson Offense Auburn Offense
Pos. # Player Hgt Wgt Cl. Scout Rivals Pos. # Player Hgt Wgt Cl. Scout Rivals
LT 63 BRANDON THOMAS 6-3 305 *Jr. 4 4 LT 73 GREG ROBINSON 6-5 311 Fr. 4 4
79 Isaiah Battle 6-6 280 Fr. 3 3 72 Shon Coleman 6-6 302 Fr. 4 5
LG 68 DAVID BEASLEY 6-4 315 *So. 3 3 LG 71 JOHN SULLEN 6-5 313 Sr. 2 3
67 Kalon Davis 6-5 330 *So. 3 3 63 Alex Kozan 6-4 294 Fr. 3 4
C 55 DALTON FREEMAN 6-5 285 *Gr. 4 4 C 65 TUNDE FARIYIKE 6-2 301 So. 2 2
58 Ryan Norton 6-3 270 *Fr. 3 3 71 John Sullen 6-5 313 Sr. 2 3
RG 62 TYLER SHATLEY 6-3 295 *Jr. 3 3 RG 62 CHAD SLADE 6-5 301 So. 3 3
77 Reid Webster 6-5 285 *So. 3 3 75 Christian Westerman 6-4 298 Sr. 5 4
RT 76 SHAQ ANTHONY 6-4 265 *Fr. 3 3 RT 56 AVERY YOUNG 6-6 295 Fr. 5 4
or 70 GIFFORD TIMOTHY 6-6 310 *So. 2 3 51 Patrick Miller 6-7 288 Fr. 4 4
73 Joe Gore 6-5 275 *Fr. 3 3 TE 43 PHILIP LUTZENKIRCHEN 6-5 255 Sr. 4 4
TE 80 BRANDON FORD 6-4 240 *Gr. 3 4 11 Brandon Fulse 6-4 249 So. 4 4
86 Sam Cooper 6-5 250 *So. 2 2 or 81 C.J. Uzomah 6-4 250 So. 4 3
WR 6 DeANDRE HOPKINS 6-2 205 Jr. 4 4 WR 80 EMORY BLAKE 6-2 193 Sr. 3 4
87 Matt Porter 5-11 190 *So. N/A N/A 18 Sammie Coates 6-2 200 Fr. 3 3
QB 10 TAJH BOYD 6-1 225 *Jr. 5 4 QB 10 KIEHL FRAZIER 6-2 226 So. 5 4
8 Cole Stoudt 6-5 205 So. 3 3 15 Clint Moseley 6-4 229 Jr. 2 3
RB 23 ANDRE ELLINGTON 5-10 195 *Sr. 4 4 RB 23 ONTERIO McCALEBB 5-11 173 Sr. 4 4
22 D.J. Howard 5-11 195 *So. 3 3 21 Tre Mason 5-10 198 So. 4 4
25 Roderick McDowell 5-9 195 *Jr. 3 4 or 22 Mike Blakely 5-9 206 Fr. 4 4
FB 40 DARRELL SMITH 6-2 250 *Jr. 3 2 FB 35 JAY PROSCH 6-0 260 Jr. 2 2
WR 18 JARON BROWN 6-2 205 *Gr. 3 3 48 Blake Burgess 6-3 249 Jr. N/A N/A
1 Martavis Bryant 6-5 200 So. 4 4 WR 1 TROVON REED 6-0 190 So. 5 4
WR 19 CHARONE PEAKE 6-3 200 So. 4 4 or 85 TRAVANTE STALLWORTH 5-9 199 Sr. 3 3
16 Adam Humphries 5-11 190 So. 3 2 WR 4 QUAN BRAY 5-10 185 So. 4 4
89 Jaylon Denson 6-3 211 So. 3 4

Table III: Defensive Comparison

Clemson Defense Auburn Defense
Pos. # Player Hgt Wgt Cl. Scout Rivals Pos. # Player Hgt Wgt Cl. Scout Rivals
DE 97 MALLICIAH GOODMAN 6-4 270 Sr. 4 4 DE 95 DEE FORD 6-2 246 Jr. 4 3
6 Tavaris Barnes 6-4 275 *So. 3 4 13 Craig Sanders 6-4 257 Jr. 4 4
98 Kevin Dodd 6-5 280 Fr. 3 3 94 Nosa Eguae 6-3 268 Jr. 2 2
NG 50 GRADY JARRETT 6-1 290 So. 3 3 DT 98 ANGELO BLACKSON 6-4 308 So. 3 3
or 91 JOSH WATSON 6-4 285 *So. 4 4 92 Kenneth Carter 6-4 289 Jr. 4 4
48 D.J. Reader 6-3 335 Fr. 3 3 96 Devaunte Sigler 6-4 291 So. 3 3
92 Roderick Byers 6-3 275 *Fr. 3 3 DT 54 JEFFREY WHITAKER 6-4 307 Jr. 4 4
DT 99 DeSHAWN WILLIAMS 6-1 285 So. 3 3 90 Gabe Wright 6-3 299 So. 4 4
or 91 JOSH WATSON 6-4 285 *So. 4 4 91 Tyler Nero 6-2 277 Fr. 4 4
94 Carlos Watkins 6-3 300 Fr. 4 4 DE 55 COREY LEMONIER 6-4 246 Jr. 5 4
DE 93 COREY CRAWFORD 6-5 270 So. 4 4 10 LaDarious Owens 6-2 260 So. 4 4
or 3 VIC BEASLEY 6-3 225 *So. 3 3 SLB 35 JONATHAN EVANS 5-11 231 Sr. 3 3
SLB/NB 34 QUANDON CHRISTIAN 6-2 225 *Jr. 3 3 26 Justin Garrett 6-1 215 So. 4 3
or 11 TRAVIS BLANKS 6-1 190 Fr. 4 4 MLB 5 JAKE HOLLAND 6-1 241 Jr. 3 4
20 Lateek Townsend 6-2 215 So. 4 4 56 Ashton Richardson 6-1 218 Sr. N/A N/A
MLB 12 STEPHONE ANTHONY 6-3 235 So. 5 5 WLB 25 DAREN BATES 5-11 215 Sr. 2 2
33 Spencer Shuey 6-3 230 *Jr. 3 3 17 Kris Frost 6-2 233 Fr. 4 5
44 B.J. Goodson 6-1 240 *Fr. 2 3 CB 11 CHRIS DAVIS 5-11 200 Jr. 3 3
WLB 46 JONATHAN WILLARD 6-2 225 *Sr. 3 4 6 Jonathon Mincy 5-10 190 So. 3 3
or 42 CORICO WRIGHT 5-11 230 Sr. 3 3 SS 9 JERMAINE WHITEHEAD 5-11 202 So. 4 4
7 Tony Steward 6-1 235 So. 4 5 12 Demetruce McNeal 6-2 187 Jr. 3 3
CB 21 DARIUS ROBINSON 5-10 175 Jr. 3 4 FS 24 RYAN SMITH 6-2 204 Jr. 3 3
26 Garry Peters 6-0 195 *So. 3 4 31 Trent Fisher 6-1 200 So. N/A N/A
SS 5 JONATHAN MEEKS 6-1 210 Sr. 4 4 CB 19 RYAN WHITE 5-11 198 Jr. 3 3
or 31 RASHARD HALL 6-2 210 *Gr. 3 3 22 T’Sharvan Bell 6-0 190 Sr. 3 4
FS 9 XAVIER BREWER 5-11 190 *Gr. 4 3
or 31 RASHARD HALL 6-2 210 *Gr. 3 3
27 Robert Smith 5-11 210 So. 3 3
CB 17 BASHAUD BREELAND 6-0 195 *So. 4 3
29 Cortez Davis 6-3 200 *Fr. 3 4

Table IV: Special Teams Comparison

Clemson Specialists Auburn Specialists
Pos. # Player Hgt Wgt Cl. Scout Rivals Pos. # Player Hgt Wgt Cl. Scout Rivals
PK 39 CHANDLER CATANZARO 6-2 195 *Jr. N/A N/A PK 36 CODY PARKEY 6-0 194 Jr. 4 3
36 Ammon Lakip 5-10 175 *Fr. 3 2 39 Alex Kviklys 6-2 180 Fr. N/A N/A
P 13 SPENCER BENTON 6-1 195 *Sr. 2 2 P 30 STEVEN CLARK 6-5 232 Jr. 2 2
92 Bradley Pinion 6-6 230 Fr. 3 3 37 J.D. Strawbridge 6-0 171 Fr. N/A N/A
KO 13 Spencer Benton 6-1 195 *Sr. 2 2 KO 36 Cody Parkey 6-0 194 Jr. 4 3
LS(PK) 75 Michael Sobeski 6-2 205 *So. N/A N/A LS 59 Jake Lembke 6-2 245 Jr. N/A N/A
52 Phillip Fajgenbaum 6-0 220 *Jr. N/A N/A or 64 Forrest Hill 6-1 242 So. N/A N/A
LS(P) 52 Phillip Fajgenbaum 6-0 220 *Jr. N/A N/A H 19 Ryan White 5-11 198 Jr. 3 3
75 Michael Sobeski 6-2 205 *So. N/A N/A 30 Steven Clark 6-5 232 Jr. 2 2
H 13 Spencer Benton 6-1 195 *Sr. 2 2 PR 4 Quan Bray 5-10 185 So. 4 4
PR 6 DeAndre Hopkins 6-2 205 Jr. 4 4 1 Trovon Reed 6-0 190 So. 5 4
16 Adam Humphries 5-11 190 So. 3 2 KOR 23 Onterio McCalleb 5-11 173 Sr. 4 4
KOR 18 Jaron Brown 6-2 205 *Gr. 3 3 4 Quan Bray 5-10 185 So. 4 4
1 Martavis Bryant 6-5 200 So. 4 4