With Xavier Thomas and Justin Mascoll recovering from injuries, Clemson’s young defensive ends have been getting a bigger opportunity to show what they can do during spring practice.
One of those who has stood out to Clemson’s defensive ends coach is true freshman T.J. Parker.
The former four-star prospect and national top-50 overall player has certainly impressed his position coach, Lemanski Hall, this spring.
“With XT (Thomas) and Mascoll being out, I’ve had the chance to play a lot of guys. … You get a chance to see T.J. Parker, who I’m really excited about,” Hall said following the Tigers’ practice Monday. “He’s everything that I thought he would be recruiting him, and man, he’s going to help us tremendously.”
Hall was asked to elaborate on the 6-foot-4, 255-pounder and how Parker — who would still be in high school had he not enrolled early in January — is everything that Hall thought he would be during the recruiting process.
“He’s physical. He’s a big kid,” Hall said. “He has a great foundation. His D-line coach has done a great job in preparing him for college football. For a young man who should be in high school to come in and play and execute and do the things that he’s doing on the field as a high schooler, I’ve been very pleased. And I saw that when I would go watch him practice. I saw that when I watched him play.”
A disruptive pass rusher, Parker was ranked as high as the No. 37 overall prospect in the 2023 class by Rivals – Clemson’s second-highest ranked signee by that recruiting service behind only fellow defensive lineman Peter Woods (No. 15 overall prospect in the class by Rivals).
Parker posted 63 tackles as a senior at Central High School in Alabama, including 16.5 tackles for loss with 12 sacks, and had at least one tackle for loss in all but one game. As a junior, he tallied 75 tackles, 23 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks while recording at least one tackle for loss in 11 of the 14 games.
This spring, Parker is proving to be the type of player that Hall expected him to be.
“He’s doing a great job,” Hall said. “He’s physical at the point of attack. He can rush the quarterback. He’s what we call a plug-and-play guy. He’s come in day one and you can put him in and he can play and he can execute, and that’s what I wanted when I recruited him and that’s what we got.”
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