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One of the better projects Clemson is taking, WDE LaSamuel Davis has signed his letter of intent with Clemson. The Bamberg, SC, native is a 3 star recruit and measures in at 6'3" 194 pounds and no listed 40 time. He was recruited by Dan Brooks with Mike Reed providing the backup on the recruiting front.
Reportedly he had offers from Kansas State, Florida, Georgia Tech, and Virginia Tech though some of those were a bit suspect. Needless to say he seemed to be an easy pickup for us though it is certainly a questionable take. It is pretty obvious he will need to spend a year or two putting on some weight and is likely to redshirt this year. Honestly if he doesn't redshirt we either got hit by massive injuries or Dabo screwed something up.
Davis is extremely athletic and that has helped him on defense, but he needs a lot of improvement in his fundamentals, he may also need to find his position like Vic Beasley which could certainly add some development time. That said, this is the type of project Clemson should take, an athletic guy who needs to bulk up and learn the details of his position, not some of the other "projects" we've seen in this class. Who knows, maybe he will rep his alma mater well here.
QT'S Take: His greatest asset is his length. His wingspan allows him to rip down players at the high school level. Good overall athleticism, burst and speed. He can go sideline to sideline at current weight. He will try to take on the role of a situational/3rd down pass rusher. Defensive coordinators crave this kind of versatility in their scheme. Ideally he would look like a Bruce Irvin type hybrid who could play a bit of LB and rush the passer. Nowhere near that level of player but that is the vision. This is the kind of take I would have been really happy with the past two cycles but we need immediate DE help right now. Keeps the Bamberg pipeline alive.
Right now what you have in Davis is a skinny player with a S&C department not known for putting on a ton of good weight for players, especially not quickly. Needs to work on pad level and shedding blocks in run support. Right now he just uses those big hands and slams everyone down but will need greater strength or tackling technique at the next level. The main challenge will be to maintain his level of quickness and agility while carrying an additional 30 pounds (that would be a minimum amount--Vic Beasley is an anomaly). Plenty of upside but also lots of risk.