Joseph Charleston has signed his letter of intent. Next year, Charleston will be playing on Saturdays for Clemson.
Charleston is ranked as the 148th best player nationally and the 13th best safety in his class.
247’s Demetric Warren predicted Charleston to commit to Tennessee. Instead, Micky Conn and Brent Venables where able to secure the commitment from the Alpharetta, Georgia native.
Joseph Charleston is a fabulous player who will be a valuable piece to the back-end of the Tiger’s defense.
Charleston specializes in making open field tackles. The safety posses closing speed that allows him to run through ball-carriers. Charleston can currently run a 4.5 40 yard dash, this will no doubt improve once he gets on campus.
Charleston is also very physical. His physicality will most definitely be a benefit to him in the future.
Throughout his high school career, Charleston tallied 101 solo tackles, 157 total tackles, and four forced fumbles.
While Charleston is a great tackler, his coverage skills will need to improve.
Right now, Clemson’s safety pool is filled with players who will likely return next year. This means Charleston will likely spend a substantial amount of time on the bench in his freshman season. A redshirt for Charleston would seem unlikely because he is ranked as the best safety in Clemson’s 2019 class. However, with the new redshirt rule in effect, Charleston would be able to participate in four games while still retaining a year of eligibility.
QT’s Take:
Charleston is the player Clemson needs to fulfill his potential in this class. Despite 3-4 Safety takes in the class, Charleston is the prospect who stands out as a potential multi-year starter. The depth chart at Safety has a literal two year gaping hole that will need to be filled. Charleston is the guy who must do that work (unless someone gets moved from corner). We know Booth is the defensive star, but Charleston is kind of the X-factor for the class.
I’m very high on Charleston, however. He was one of the many recruits who we thought was undervalued this cycle and would see a bump—that didn’t really materialize in the composite going from the 160s to 148. I think he deserved to knock on the door of the top 100. Clemson has started a bit of a pipeline with state championship program Milton brewing (they beat Colquitt in the final who beat Archer in the semi—some great fb games). Played against top competition in Georgia.
Charleston had 69 tackles and 4 interceptions in his senior year. He is already 6’2, 190ish but his frame is wide and won’t need much work to be college ready. He is a good tackler and physical in the run game—he will hit you. He blocked several punts/kicks as a senior on special teams. My only serious concern is his backpedal needs some polish and being able to stick in man coverage at the college level will be a transition.