Stacking Up Clemson’s & Notre Dame’s Starters As Recruits

On Wednesday, BlueandGold.com published a deep dive on some notable Clemson vs. Notre Dame recruiting battles and presented some other data as well ahead of the monumental matchup between the two teams on Saturday night.

Clemson has won two national championships since 2016, while the Fighting Irish reached the playoffs in 2018 just to be trounced by the Tigers. But the gap between the two programs on the recruiting front may not be as big as some fans think.

Not only has Notre Dame beaten out Clemson for its fair share of recruits, the Tigers have an average star ranking per 30 "starters" on its depth chart of 3.9. We listed the Irish with 28 starters and their average is 3.5.

We're fully aware that there are only 22 actual starters, but we included co-starters as indicated on the depth chart and notable backups at both running back and tight end.

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Where Clemson has a clear advantage over Notre Dame is its total of five-star players. The Tigers have nine five-star recruits per Rivals (three on offense and six on defense) listed as starters, while Notre Dame has just one (defensive end Daelin Hayes).

Even though Clemson's defensive line will miss a couple of players, they're still going to trot out three former five-star recruits on Saturday.

Clemson has 18 starters who were Rivals250 prospects as recruits, compared to Notre Dame's 12. Clemson will have two former two-star players start; Notre Dame has zero.

Ian Book started some games during his third season at Notre Dame and has been the full-time starter for the past two seasons.

True freshman DJ Uiagalelei may follow a similar path. He's starting some games as a freshman (at least two) and will likely be the full-time starter in 2021 and 2022, assuming Trevor Lawrence declares for the NFL Draft after this season.

The biggest contrast on the depth chart is at quarterback, with Book being the No. 15 pro-style quarterback in the 2016 class, while Uiagalelei was a five-star player and No. 1 pro-style passer.

Book and Uiagalelei will draw the most fan praise or criticism during the game, but Travis Etienne and Kyren Williams may have just as much impact on the actual outcome of the game.

The Fighting Irish and Tigers will rely on establishing the ground game, and both Etienne and Williams -- a couple of three-star players -- are big-time backs. Behind them is a pair of former four-star prospects in Lyn-J Dixon and Chris Tyree.

Even without stud receivers Justyn Ross (neck injury) and Tee Higgins (NFL), the Tigers have a star-studded group.

Senior wide receiver Amari Rodgers (40 catches for 586 yards, 14.7 yards per catch and six touchdowns) has been a favorite target of the Tigers' quarterbacks.

Notre Dame has a five-star receiver on its roster in Jordan Johnson, but he's not a starter (or co-starter), so he's not included.

Clemson's pair of three-star tight ends have been very productive this season. Braden Galloway and Davis Allen have totaled 27 receptions for 358 yards this season. Notre Dame's three-headed monster at tight end has 30 receptions for 315 yards.

Who would've predicted prior to the season that Michael Mayer would lead Notre Dame in receptions, with 15, going into the seventh game of the season? This speaks to his talent but probably speaks to the struggles at receiver as well.

Clemson has the full rankings spectrum on its offensive line. Left tackle Jackson Carman was a five-star recruit in the 2018 class, and center Cade Stewart was a two-star prospect back in the 2016 cycle. Clemson also has a pair of four-star recruits and a three-star as well.

Notre Dame's offensive line unit has four four-star prospects and a three-star figure. At the end of the day, both offensive lines are strong groups.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney announced on Wednesday that starting defensive tackle Tyler Davis would be out for the game, so we moved Darnell Jeffries into the starting spot as the No. 2 player previously on the depth chart.

Former five-star defensive end recruit Xavier Thomas will miss the first half due to a targeting call in the second half of Clemson's game last week against Boston College.

Poor Clemson. They're only down to three five-star players among its "starters" on the defensive line.

Notre Dame's lone five-star starter is defensive end Daelin Hayes, who has emerged in recent weeks. The Irish's other three defensive linemen were ranked as three-star recruits but have out-performed that ranking.

Clark Lea (Notre Dame) and Brent Venables (Clemson) are the defensive coordinators in the contest and both coach the team's linebacker units as well. Both know how to identify linebacker recruits and develop them very well. Lea and Venables are two of the top defensive coordinators in the country.

Notre Dame's Shaun Crawford is one of the few active college football players from the 2015 class, when he was ranked as the No. 82 overall prospect. Kyle Hamilton was the nation's No. 75 recruit in the 2019 cycle, which is nothing to scoff at, but he's already proven that he's better than that ranking.

Clemson will trot out a pair of five-star cornerbacks in Derion Kendrick and Andrew Booth Jr., as well as a two-star in Nolan Turner.

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