Clemson has signed its fair share of 5-star talents at QB, and The Athletic endeavored to rank those high school standouts for their college accomplishments.
National champ and Heisman runner up Trevor Lawrence rounds out a Top 5 with Tim Tebow (Florida), Vince Young (Texas), Cam Newton (Florida then Auburn) and Jameis Winston (Florida State).
“Lawrence was the top prospect in the 2018 recruiting cycle, and he immediately delivered on the hype. He supplanted Clemson’s established starter, Kelly Bryant, after four games and led the Tigers to a national championship with a great performance (347 yards, three touchdowns) against Alabama in the title game,” The Athletic’s Antonio Morales writes. “Lawrence guided Clemson to a 14-1 record and national championship appearance in 2019 and a Playoff trip in 2020. He was the Heisman runner-up in 2020, as well. He threw 90 touchdown passes to just 17 interceptions and rushed for 18 scores.”
Lawrence went on to be Clemson’s first No. 1 overall pick in football.
Current Clemson assistant Tajh Boyd also ranked highly at No. 15 overall.
“Lawrence and Deshaun Watson are the Tigers’ most celebrated quarterbacks, but Boyd led Clemson to the ACC title in 2011 — its first in 20 years — and threw for 11,904 yards and 107 touchdowns in his career. His 32-8 record as the starter between 2011 and 2013 set the stage for what was to come for the Tigers,” Morales said.
Watson did not fit the qualifications for this ranking, but he did have at least one 5-star rating with Rivals.com out of high school. The exercise also did not include active players, where Cade Klubnik would qualify in the future.
Two more Clemson 5-star signees were ranked much lower with DJ Uiagalelei(37), who finished his career at Florida State with an Oregon State stop in between, and Dabo Swinney ‘boomerang portal’ participant Hunter Johnson at No. 57 out of 62 ranked overall.
Outside of Newton and Winston, Clemson also faced Top 25 QBs in Tua Tagovailoa (Alabama; No. 7), Justin Fields (Georgia to Ohio State; No. 9), Braxton Miller (Ohio State; No. 16), Tyrod Taylor (Virginia Tech; No. 18), Aaron Murray (Georgia; No. 19), Quin Ewers (Ohio State then Texas; No. 21) and EJ Manuel (Florida State; No. 24).