Will Clemson add 5-star linemen to class that already includes Xavier Thomas?
The first year of the early signing period begins on Wednesday. Here are five story lines for Clemson:
Will all commits sign as expected?
Clemson has 12 commits for the class of 2018 and is expecting all 12 of them to sign on Wednesday, according to a source. The two headliners in the class are quarterback Trevor Lawrence of Cartersville, Ga., who is the No. 1 overall recruit in the country, and defensive end Xavier Thomas, who is the No. 3 overall player in the country. Lawrence is slated to sign at 8 a.m. at his high school, while Thomas while sign at 9 a.m. at Wilson High in Florence.
Will Clemson land a five-star offensive tackle?
The Tigers are still chasing a pair of five-star offensive tackles in Cade Mays of Knoxville, Tenn., and Jackson Carman of Fairfield, Ohio. Mays appears to be down to Georgia and Clemson and will be announcing his decision at 2:30 p.m. in the Knoxville Catholic gym. Mays was a Tennessee commit before de-committing during the season. Carman is down to Clemson, Southern Cal and Ohio State and is expected to announce his decision at 11 a.m. If Clemson can land Mays, Carman or both it would be a big boost to an already impressive recruiting class, especially if Mitch Hyatt decides to enter the NFL draft.
Can Tigers land KJ Henry and Lyn-J Dixon?
In addition to the pair of offensive tackles, Clemson is also pursuing defensive end KJ Henry and running back Lyn-J Dixon. Henry is rated as a five-star recruit and along with Thomas would give Clemson two of the top four defensive ends in the country, according to the 247Sports composite rankings. Henry, a North Carolina native, is down to a final five of Clemson, South Carolina, Virginia Tech, Georgia and Alabama and will announce his decision at 4:20 p.m. Dixon, a four-star recruit from Georgia, is down to Clemson and Oklahoma State.
Will there be any surprises?
It is unlikely that Clemson will land any surprise signees on Wednesday as the rest of its remaining targets are likely to wait until February to sign, but it can’t be counted out. The Tigers have a history of making a splash on signing day, and it would not be completely shocking if Clemson pulls in a player it appears is headed elsewhere or who was planning to wait to sign.
How full will the class be?
The Tigers signed 14 players to scholarships for the class of 2017 and are expected to sign another small class for 2018. Clemson enters Wednesday with 12 commits and could add a few more before the early signing period is over on Friday. Dabo Swinney and Clemson’s staff will not know exactly how many spots they have available until after underclassmen declare for the NFL draft.
This story was originally published December 19, 2017 at 3:15 PM with the headline "Will Clemson add 5-star linemen to class that already includes Xavier Thomas?."