2019 Clemson Football Recruiting: 2019 TE Jaelyn Lay Signs Letter of Intent with Tigers

Four-star tight end, Jaelyn Lay is a Tiger. Today, the Georgia native signed with Clemson.

Clemson, along with Georgia, was one of the few power-five schools who offered Lay.

Jaelyn Lay is ranked as the 490th best player in his class, and the ninth best TE. However, I would suggest for you to not look too much into Lay’s ranking. Lay is a physically gifted player, who has potential to really make a positive impact on the Clemson offense.

Jaelyn Lay will specifically pose a threat to middle of the field. The TE will be very effective at Clemson because of the speed that the Tigers have at the wide receiver position. The Tiger wideouts will be able to take a lot of attention away from Lay, witch will allow him to catch more passes.

Even though Lay runs just a 4.8 forty, he always seems to get open. This can be attributed to Lay’s phenomenal route running skills.

In addition to being a great pass catcher, Lay is also a very physical blocker.

The last Clemson tight end who was a legit threat to catch passes was Jordan Leggett. In his Clemson career, Leggett caught 112 passes for over 1,500 yards. In his senior season, Leggett was a key piece in the Tiger’s national championship team.

Not to say that Jaelyn Lay will be as successful as Jordan Leggett was, but Lay will certainly remind plenty Clemson fans of Leggett.

All in all, Jaelyn Lay, in my opinion, is criminally underrated. Lay will be a great player for the Tigers in seasons to come.

QT’s Take:

The knock on Lay amongst industry recruiting people is his hands. Whether that is overblown or not, he has shown inconsistency with catching the ball, which is problematic when projecting a pass catching TE.

He is a physical specimen who can run fluid routes and get open. He is strong and can run extremely well for his size. At 6’6 and 220 pounds, he is already physically imposing. Needs to work on blocking fundamentals, but he is a willing blocker and does a decent job blocking in the open field.

If he can catch the ball consistently he is the future at the position.