247's Winners & Losers of ESD

Losers:

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LOSER: CLEMSON TIGERS

We know a few things about Clemson and recruiting under Dabo Swinney. The Tigers are methodical with their offers. They like to sign small classes and try to have the cake in the oven well before the Early Signing Period rolls around. They also don’t like to hit the transfer portal.

After the events of the last week, it’s time to question those things and wonder how much of it should change. A spate of decommitments in the wake of Brent Venables’ departure for Oklahoma left Clemson with 12 signees (Top247 athlete Jaren Kanak remains unsigned at the time of writing, but he’s expected to flip to Sooners and if he does, the Tigers' class ranking drops into the 20s).

Those 12 new players are certainly talented, but from a roster management standpoint, Clemson could be in serious trouble. Clemson has already lost nine players to the transfer portal since August and they’ll lose a normal number of players to graduation and the NFL Draft in the coming months.

Swinney will obviously try to add a few more players at key positions in advance of February's National Signing Day, but that’s not exactly a slam dunk as the Tigers don’t choose from a huge pool of players to begin with and there’s not that much left out there. Swinney also seems to not be budging on his stance regarding the transfer portal.

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LOSER: FLORIDA STATE SEMINOLES

What a 24-hour stretch for Mike Norvell. After signing a contract extension late Tuesday night, he woke up Wednesday morning to news that Kenny Dillingham, his offensive coordinator, was leaving for the same position for Oregon. A few hours later he learned that Hunter – the face of a recruiting class that had spent much of the year ranked inside the top 10 – might be wavering on his commitment. Brutal, but things only got worse from there for the Seminoles.

Not only did Hunter ink with Jackson State, but he saw four-star wide receiver Devaughn Mortimer (who kept saying the right things about Tallahassee) flip to Louisville, four-star defensive lineman Tyre West (who some thought was an FSU lean) pick Tennesee and four-star pass rusher Nyjalik Kelly (who at one time was committed to the Seminoles) sign with rival Miami. On top of that, the aforementioned Jones, whose father starred for the Seminoles and won a Butkus award while wearing the garnet and gold, elected to take his talents to the SEC. Norvell wasn't really expected to land Jones on Wednesday, but him electing to play for Georgia was essentially another twist of the knife.

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I thought Mizzou and Kentucky would be listed as winners. No one expected us to be as high as we are.

WINNER: AUBURN TIGERS

Not really. I mean we are winners relatively compared to some other programs. We recruited very solid defensive talent but the offense is a major issue (next year).

It all depends on the transfer portal now...

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I thought Mizzou and Kentucky would be listed as winners. No one expected us to be as high as we are.

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Absolutely. Looking forward to seeing what Burden can do

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WINNER: AUBURN TIGERS

Not really. I mean we are winners relatively compared to some other programs. We recruited very solid defensive talent but the offense is a major issue (next year).

It all depends on the transfer portal now

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Harsin’s rebuild project will take 4-5 years if not longer. Malzahn left us with nothing on the o-line. It’ll take us a while to dig out of the hole.

Seriously, what a race for number one. And there is more to come!