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Clemson added to its 2020 offensive line class on Sunday with the commitment of 4-star offensive tackle Paul Tchio. The 6’5” 325lb Tchio hails from Milton High School in Alpharetta, Georgia. He is the 22nd ranked offensive tackle and 152nd ranked player overall per the 247Sports Composite®. Tchio is the highest rated offense lineman to commit in the class. He joins 3-star John Williams and 4-star Walker Parks as 2020 OL commitments.
Clemson has been pursuing Tchio hard in recent months and began gaining momentum on the recruiting trail during this football season. Tchio visited Clemson for the Tiger’s victory against NC State on October 20th and gave his commitment to Dabo Swinney and the coaches prior to the South Carolina game on Saturday. Clemson beat out Georgia and early favorite Alabama for his commitment.
The class of 2020 has begun much differently than 2018 or 2019. Clemson is securing OL commits early instead of performing longer evaluations and attempting to sign prospects last minute. This could signal a long-term change in recruiting strategy. Ideally, our coaches will look to lock up highly talented, but not necessarily elite, players along the offensive line early in the recruiting cycle and still attempt to sign approximately five offensive linemen by winning battles for coveted prospects down the stretch. Clemson is not a serious contender for any notable offensive tackles in the 2018 class as of this writing and it cannot be overstated how essential it will be to hit on the commitments for the 2020 class.
Tchio is the 5th commitment of the 2020 class for the Tigers. He joins the previously mentioned Parks and Williams along with 4-star DT Demonte Capeheart and 4 -star LB Sergio Allen. Tchio is the immediate dividend from a very well conducted recruiting weekend that included #1 2020 QB DJ Uiagaleilei, 2020 #1 overall DE Bryan Bresee, and 2020 5-star ATH/TE Arik Gilbert.
Tchio’s HUDL film can be found here. We’ve been hoping for more quantity in terms of offensive line commitments so we’re happy to see these positive signs for 2020.
Editors Note: Please welcome our newest recruiting analyst, Anthony “TenDayContract.” Be assured, he isn’t actually on a 10-day contract.