4-Star OG Bryn Tucker Commits to Clemson

Clemson received a commitment from 4-star OG Bryn (pronounced Brian) Tucker today. Tucker will come to Clemson from Knoxville, TN (Knoxville Catholic) and is listed at 6-5, 305lbs. He is ranked as the #7 OG, and #165 player overall in the 2020 class per the 247Sports Composite. Tucker becomes Clemson’s ninth commitment of the 2020 class and his addition vaults the Tiger’s class to #2 in the 247Sports team rankings - behind only LSU and Alabama. Clemson secured Tucker’s commitment over competitors Tennessee, Auburn, Virginia Tech, and LSU.

Tucker definitely projects inside and will have to reshape his body prior to reaching his full potential. He plays the position well but did not shine as much on his junior year film as expected. That poor film resulted in a considerable fall in the latest recruiting rankings. This, of course, is nitpicking. A year with Coach Batson should do him wonders and allow him to bloom into a multi-year contributor along the line.

Tucker is the fifth and (likely) final take of Clemson’s 2020 offensive line class. In addition, all of the classes’ offensive line recruits are considered blue chip players. This should please potential quarterback recruits.

The drastic change in offensive line recruiting between 2020 and the previous two recruiting classes cannot be overstated. Clemson has more eligible scholarships allocated to the offensive line this year, but Caldwell and the rest of the staff were much more aggressive in identifying and securing targets early in the recruiting year. This commitment moves Robbie Friggin’ Caldwell into the #2 position of the 247Sports national recruiter rankings, only behind Todd Bates. Many, myself included, have previously criticized the staff for how they handled OL recruits. I’ll eat crow. This is an outstanding class that deserves universal praise. Let’s take a couple days to appreciate this week’s recruiting success and prepare for more in the coming weeks.

QT’s Take

Bryn Tucker is a very polarizing recruit. He started out ranked very highly, as a composite 5*, then slid to the top 50, then top 75, and finally pegged as a top 150 player. 247’s rankings have Tucker at 340 overall, which is dragging down his overall ranking. Needless to say, Tucker is controversial. Tucker right now is probably a top 100-150 player. I don’t think that Tucker should fall below the #165 rank he is at right now.

Lots of the controversy surrounds Tucker’s ability to stick at Tackle. In my mind he is absolutely an inside player and should be evaluated as a guard. The main critique of Tucker’s ability often centers around his short space agility and foot speed. He plays tackle at the high school level, but if moved inside this is less a liability. Tucker has been beaten in some camp contexts pretty bad, but you can’t teach 6’5 and 300 pounds. He will need to get in a bit better shape to help him move while reshaping his body.

But you have a lot of natural talent and tools to work with in Tucker. Lots of power when he engages and heavy hands. A fifth offensive line take with this much talent is a huge score for Clemson. While I would prefer another Tackle prospect (and would be very happy with targeting Paris Johnson Jr. or even someone like Chad Lindberg who recently visited Clemson’s campus), you can’t pass up a talent like Tucker and building a bit of a pipeline with Knoxville Catholic in Tennessee (the same high school as Amari Rodgers).