Final pieces of the puzzle headed to Clemson this summer

Highly-rated receiver signee TJ Moore is set to be on campus this summer.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Thu May 02 13:17:35 GMT-04:00 2024

It won’t be long until Clemson’s team is complete.

The final seven members of the 2024 recruiting class will arrive on campus this summer. The First Summer session begins May 14th and runs through June 21st. There is a chance that a few of the players will arrive for that first session, but that hasn’t been confirmed.

The Second Summer session begins on June 27th. All of the players are expected to be on campus at that point. The transfer portal is closed for players leaving, and while Clemson can certainly add players at this point, we don’t see that happening.

So, who are the final seven pieces of the puzzle? They are, Drew Woodaz, CJ Kubah-Taylor, TJ Moore, Hevin Brown-Shuler, Darien Mayo, Ashton Hampton, and Christian Bentancur. Let’s take a look at Moore today.

Wide receiver TJ Moore

Moore comes to Clemson with lofty expectations.

Clemson has lacked a taller receiver that can make plays for a while. Last season, Clemson totaled only 30 pass plays of 20 or more yards, which ranked 109th nationally, and a mere 12 receptions covering 30 yards or more, which ranked 118th.

That wasn’t anything new – the Tigers have ranked no higher than 55th in the country in either big-play category since 2020.

Enter Bryant Wesco (6-2, who was here for spring practice), and Moore (6-3, 190). Moore put on a show at the All-America Game in San Antonio in January, earning MVP honors. Moore had 11 receptions for 180 yards and a pair of touchdowns, as well as a highlight-reel, one-handed grab.

Moore was ranked among the top 100 overall players in the nation by most recruiting services, including PrepStar (No. 13), On3 (No. 33), ESPN (No. 92) and 247Sports (No. 98) at the time of his signing. He shot higher in the rankings after a strong performance at the All-American Bowl and ended up as a 5-star recruit by multiple services.

Jeris McIntyre, Moore’s high school head coach, said that Moore is more than just a football player.

“He's a good kid, man. He's really, really chill. He's not flamboyant, he's not flashy, he's not a loud talker, but really, really a good, good guy, cool dude,” McIntyre said. “He'll joke around a little bit, has a good sense of humor, but he's really just a laid back, hardworking, good, good guy to be around.”

What makes him special on the football field?

“It's a lot of things, including his ability to track the football, his routes, getting separation, his length, his speed,” McIntyre said. “It's really just a lot of the things and the attributes that make a good receiver. Starting with ball skills first and foremost, I think the biggest thing people, I don't want to say under or overestimate, is being able to catch the football. And he catches mostly everything you throw to him. He can track the ball in the air. That's the first thing that I would say that makes him different, just his ability to make the difficult catch, the easy catch. And then next is really just his route running. He's smooth, he's long, he can really run, get in and out of his breaks. So the two biggest things I would say is just his catch radius and ball skills, and then next would be just his routes and his ability to get in and out of his breaks.”