What recruiting rankings tell us about the Clemson-Syracuse matchup
By: samneumann October 14, 2021

The Clemson Insider thought it would be interesting to analyze the matchups on Clemson’s 2021 schedule from a recruiting standpoint by going back and looking at where the Tigers’ projected starters were ranked as recruits versus where the projected starters for their opponents were ranked.

In this article, we break down Clemson’s game against Syracuse at the Carrier Dome on Friday, Oct. 15. Below is a rundown of the projected starters for both teams, as it stands now, and their high school star ratings and prospect rankings according to the 247Sports Composite:

Clemson offense:

LT – Jordan McFadden (3-star, No. 819 national, No. 66 OT)

LG – Paul Tchio (4-star, No. 103 national, No. 3 OG)

or LG – Marcus Tate (4-star, No. 127 national, No. 8 IOL)

C – Matt Bockhorst (4-star, No. 240 national, No. 17 OG)

or C – Hunter Rayburn (3-star, No. 485 national, No. 28 OG)

RG – Will Putnam (4-star, No. 101 national, No. 5 OG)

or RG – Matt Bockhorst

RT – Walker Parks (4-star, No. 50 national, No. 5 OT)

TE – Davis Allen (3-star, No. 807 national, No. 39 TE)

WR – Joseph Ngata (4-star, No. 52 national, No. 9 WR)

QB – D.J. Uiagalelei (5-star, No. 10 national, No. 1 PRO)

RB – Kobe Pace (3-star, No. 451 national, No. 32 RB)

WR – Justyn Ross (4-star, No. 45 national, No. 7 WR)

WR – Frank Lasdon Jr. (4-star, No. 39 national, No. 7 WR)

or WR – E.J. Williams (4-star, No. 69 national, No. 13 WR)

Clemson defense:

DE – Myles Murphy (5-star, No. 7 national, No. 1 SDE)

or DE – Xavier Thomas (5-star, No. 3 national, No. 1 SDE)

or DE – K.J. Henry (5-star, No. 14 national, No. 3 WDE)

DT – Tré Williams (4-star, No. 94 national, No. 11 DT)

DT – Ruke Orhorhoro (3-star, No. 745 national, No. 49 SDE)

DE – Justin Foster (4-star, No. 156 national, No. 11 WDE)

or DE – Justin Mascoll (4-star, No. 142 national, No. 9 WDE)

or DE – Xavier Thomas

SLB/NB – Trenton Simpson (5-star, No. 26 national, No. 1 OLB)

or SLB/NB – Malcolm Greene (4-star, No. 282 national, No. 29 S)

MLB – James Skalski (3-star, No. 680 national, No. 44 OLB)

WLB – Baylon Spector (3-star, No. 609 national, No. 45 S)

CB – Andrew Booth Jr. (5-star, No. 23 national, No. 2 CB)

SS – Andrew Mukuba (4-star, No. 167 national, No. 8 S)

FS – Nolan Turner (NR)

CB – Mario Goodrich (4-star, No. 114 national, No. 4 ATH)

Syracuse offense:

QB – Garrett Shrader (4-star, No. 238 national, No. 7 DUAL)

RB – Sean Tucker (3-star, No. 867 national, No. 58 RB)

WR – Sharod Johnson (3-star, No. 1159 national, No. 160 WR)

WR – Courtney Jackson (3-star, No. 1274 national, No. 98 ATH)

WR – Anthony Queeley (3-star, No. 1081 national, No. 160 WR)

TE – Chris Elmore (3-star, No. 1390 national, No. 88 DT)

LT – Matthew Bergeron (3-star, No. 952 national, No. 80 OT)

LG – Chris Bleich (3-star, No. 458 national, No. 34 OT)

C – Airon Servais (3-star, No. 1577 national, No. 132 OT)

RG – Dakota Davis (3-star, No. 1162 national, No. 106 OT)

or RG – Darius Tisdale (3-star, No. 145 national, No. 25 OT – JUCO)

RT – Carlos Vettorello (3-star, No. 915 national, No. 37 OG)

Syracuse defense:

DE – Josh Black (3-star, No. 1493 national, No. 70 SDE)

DT – McKinley Williams (2-star, No. 2282 national, No. 107 SDE)

or DT – Curtis Harper (3-star, No. 1837 national, No. 109 DT)

DE – Kingsley Jonathan (3-star, No. 593 national, No. 40 WDE)

or DE – Cody Roscoe (2-star, No. 2581 national, No. 129 ILB)

LB – Stefon Thompson (3-star, No. 1128 national, No. 42 ILB)

LB – Mikel Jones (3-star, No. 437 national, No. 24 OLB)

LB – Marlowe Wax (3-star, No. 1269 national, No. 77 RB)

CB – Garrett Williams (3-star, No. 1776 national, No. 171 CB)

BS – Ja’Had Carter (3-star, No. 2 national, No. 1 ATH –  JUCO)

or BS – Eric Coley (3-star, No. 940 national, No. 103 CB)

FS – Jason Simmons  (3-star, No. 2423 national, No. 186 S)

ROV – Rob Hanna (3-star, No. 742 national, No. 57 S)

or ROV – Justin Barron (3-star, No. 1325 national, No. 95 ATH)

CB – Duce Chestnut (3-star, No. 421 national, No. 31 CB)

Notes: Syracuse has a talented quarterback under center in Garrett Shrader, a former Mississippi State recruit and a converted wide receiver. However, no other projected starter on Syracuse’s offense was ranked higher than the No. 458 prospect in the country coming out of high school. Left guard Darius Tisdale, who transferred to Syracuse from Lackawanna Community College before the 2019 season, was ranked as the No. 145 JUCO player in the country.

Meanwhile, Syracuse’s defense is littered with former two- and three-star prospects. Despite the clear talent advantage on paper, Syracuse has always played Clemson close, even in losses. The Tigers will certainly not be overlooking an opponent, especially the Orange.

**All ratings/rankings according to the 247Sports Composite

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