Davis Allen Commits to Clemson Tigers

Davis Allen (6’5, 225) committed to the Clemson Tigers yesterday, the first commitment coming out of the Dabo Swinney Camp. Davis is from Calhoun, GA, the same school as the Spector brothers. Davis joins Jaelyn Lay as the second tight end commitment in this class and the thirteenth overall commitment in 2019. Allen’s father was a Linebacker at UGA and Davis plays TE and inside LB for his high school team. Davis’ family was present on the trip and really enjoyed their time at Clemson. Davis had offers from Virginia Tech, Duke, Wake Forest, and Ole Miss.

WHAT THEY GET

Lets start with the positives. Clemson gets a 6’5 frame that will be able to add another 20-30 pounds easily. Allen is currently unranked by many recruiting services, but those who have him ranked peg him as a 3* (the 1061st player on the composite—but that is without some services). He should end up a 3* recruit in short order, however. As an inside linebacker he shows some tenacity and toughness on film that suggests that he will be more hard-nosed of a blocker. In his limited film he does show the ability to hold blocks and drive. He is extremely well coached at Calhoun and should have a solid foundation to build on.

The coaches have seen a lot of Davis through the years after recruiting both Spector brothers. They made multiple stops this Spring and used the camp evaluation to finally sign off on the offer, knowing that a commitment would be coming. The coaches coveted a blocking TE with this take. They now have Galloway (who is filling out nicely so far) and Lay as more pass catching TE’s in the Leggett mold and wanted a TE who could be an asset on the line. I don’t think there is a huge difference between Luke Deal and Davis to be quite honest. Deal was the instate player and you move on his recruitment first with the close proximity and growing up a fan, but Davis has all the tools Deal possesses. I personally think Clemson’s interest in Deal and the lack of top end TE talent in the class created a bit of an exaggerated market for Deal. LSU was looking to offer Allen and if he had stayed uncommitted for the next month, I could see that same hype machine building around Allen.

Someone like Keon Zipperer is more of a hybrid (a jumbo wide receiver with good hands but will likely block like Milan Richard), but the coaches preferred the bigger frame to follow Garrett Williams, especially with Lay committed. Clemson will still pursue the top rated TE recruit Hudson Henry as an oversign candidate at the position.

The question for Allen is going to be speed and athleticism once you put on that additional weight. He isn’t the most fluid athlete, but he doesn’t need to be to fulfill a valuable role on the team at Clemson. His pass catching, yards after catch, and the wide receiver skill set of a Clemson TE will all need to improve. But I don’t see any glaring deficiencies on film, he is just average in those areas. Upper body strength in blocking needs to improve some (a result of being 6’5), but he likes to hit as a linebacker and you see that mentality translate to his blocking.