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Do Stars Matter? Comparing Ohio State and Clemson By Recruiting Rankings

Matt Gutridge's picture
by Matt Gutridge
December 31, 2020 at 1:00am
21 Comments
Julian Fleming

Stars may, or may not matter. It depends on who you talk to. For those who think recruiting ratings can make a difference, you will find a complete breakdown of Clemson's and Ohio State's rosters based on those "meaningless" evaluation.

Five Things Clemson's Offense Against Ohio State's Defense
  1. Overall, Ohio State's defense is 231 points better than Clemson's offense.
  2. The Tigers' passing game (QB, WRs) has just over a 356 point advantage on the Buckeyes' secondary.
  3. In the trenches, Ohio State's defensive linemen come in with a .9757 average. That is 722 points better than Clemson's offensive line average of .9035.
  4. Clemson's Trevor Lawrence (.9999), is the highest rated player on either team.
  5. Baron Browning (.9940) is the highest rated defensive player for the Buckeyes. 
 
PROJECTED OFFENSIVE / DEFENSIVE STARTERS WITH RECRUITING RANKINGS
       
Clemson
 
     
OHIO STATE                     
POSITION PLAYER COMP. RATING POSITION PLAYER COMP. RATING
LT JACKSON CARMAN .9894 DE JONATHON COOPER .9811
LG MATT BOCKHORST .9099 DT HASKELL GARRETT .9678
C CADE STEWART .8025* DT TOMMY TOGIAI .9721
RG WILL PUTNAM .9555 DE TYREKE SMITH .9816
RT JORDAN McFADDEN .8601 SLB/DB/DE BARON BROWNING .9940
RB TRAVIS ETIENNE .9171 MLB TUF BORLAND .8933*
TE BRADEN GALLOWAY .8585 WLB/CB PETE WERNER .8994
WR CORNELL POWELL .9314* CB/S SHAUN WADE .9904
QB TREVOR LAWRENCE .9999 S MARCUS HOOKER .8701
WR AMARI RODGERS .9453 S/CB MARCUS WILLIAMSON .9250
WR EJ WILLIAMS .9682 CB/LB SEVYN BANKS .9166
           
  AVERAGE .9216   AVERAGE .9447

*Signed in the 2016 class.

DEFENSIVE RECRUITING NOTES 2017-2020

Over the past four recruiting cycles, Clemson has picked up 41 defensive players and Ohio State 40. Both schools have put a premium on defensive tackles and safeties.

In what might be a surprise, the Buckeyes' positions of lowest priority (by number) have been defensive end, defensive tackle and inside linebacker. 

The Tigers have recruited at least five players at every defensive position.

NO. OF DEFENSIVE PLAYERS RECRUITED PER POSITION
Clemson
          
Ohio State
POSITION NO. OF PLAYERS AVG RATING   POSITION NO. OF PLAYERS AVG RATING
SDE 5 .9266   SDE 3 .9188
WDE 5 .9376   WDE 3 .9495
DT 7 .9417   DT 9* .9384
OLB 5 .9207   OLB 8 .9354
ILB 5 .9007   ILB 3 .9302
CB 6 .9623   CB 7 .9386
S 8 .8864   S 7 .9385
             
TOTAL 41 .9240   TOTAL 40 .9366

*Antwuan Jackson Jr. was in the 2018 class as a transfer.

Five Things Ohio State's Offense Against Clemson's Defense

  1. Overall, Ohio State's offense is 321 points better than Clemson's offense.
  2. The Buckeyes' passing game (QB, WRs) has a 567 point advantage on the Tigers' secondary.
  3. In the trenches, Clemson's defensive linemen come in with a .9822 average. That is 137 points better than Ohio State's offensive line average of .9685.
  4. Clemson's Bryan Bresee (.9995), is the highest rated defensive player on either team.
  5. Justin Fields (.9998) is the highest rated player on the Buckeyes' roster. 
PROJECTED DEFENSIVE / OFFENSIVE STARTERS WITH RECRUITING RANKINGS
       
Clemson
 
     
OHIO STATE                     
POSITION PLAYER COMP. RATING POSITION PLAYER COMP. RATING
DE KJ HENRY .9928 LT THAYER MUNFORD .8985
DT TYLER DAVIS .9401 LG HARRY MILLER .9845
DT BRYAN BRESEE .9995 C JOSH MYERS .9757
DE MYLES MURPHY .9965 RG WYATT DAVIS .9876
SLB/NB MIKE JONES JR. .9186 RT NICHOLAS PETIT-FRERE .9963
MLB JAMES SKALSKI** .8569** RB MASTER TEAGUE .9132
WLB BAYLON SPECTOR .8610 TE LUKE FARRELL* .9233
CB DERION KENDRICK** .9855** WR GARRETT WILSON .9922
SS LANNDEN ZANDERS .8648 QB JUSTIN FIELDS .9998
FS NOLAN TURNER .7999** WR CHRIS OLAVE .8875
CB SHERIDAN JONES .9429 WR JAMESON WILLIAMS .9404
           
  AVERAGE .9231 AVERAGE   .9545

*Signed in the 2016 class.
**Signed as a WR

OFFENSIVE RECRUITING NOTES 2017-2020

Since 2017, Clemson has picked up 40 offensive players and Ohio State 44. Both schools have put a premium on defensive tackles and safeties. The Tigers have added 15 offensive linemen and the Buckeyes 13. 

A position that the Tigers and Buckeyes have loaded up on is wide receiver. Nine wide outs have committed to William Christopher Swinney's program. Taking it up a notch, Ryan Day has stacked his receiver room with 12 studs.   

Ohio State's least recruited offensive position is tight end and Clemson has only added one athlete.

NO. OF OFFENSIVE PLAYERS RECRUITED PER POSITION
Clemson
          
Ohio State
POSITION NO. OF PLAYERS AVG RATING   POSITION NO. OF PLAYERS NO. OF PLAYERS
OT 7 .9035   OT 8 .9307
OG/OC 8 .8957   OG/OC 5 .9499
TE 4 .8740   TE 3 .9121
RB 6 .9110   RB 6 .9323
WR 9 .9540   WR 12 .9458
ATH 1 .9492   ATH 5 .9137
QB 5 .9555   QB 5 .9485
             
TOTAL 40 .9191   TOTAL 44 .9360

Whichever recruiting rating camp you fall in, the players from both schools will settle the matter in New Orleans Friday night. Here's to Ohio State proving the ratings matter and leave the Sugar Bowl with the program's first victory over Clemson.

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