LB: Thoughts on Rogers and Williams

Aug 15, 2015, 5:08 PM

What a strange week for our LB's. I honestly thought this season we would see Korie Rogers emerge as a star. I remember our recruitment of him, the excitement of him signing, and the early returns. He seemed destined to be a star. Pro type size and ability. But that was not meant to be. For reasons we will almost certainly never know, he has given up football, and his loss has created a temporary hole in our LB core.
Then there is Jalen Williams. I remember a couple years ago reading the reports from Swinney's HS camp about this kid who reportedly was out playing the big names (including Rogers and an even more highly touted kid we lost to Ohio State). I remember looking up his HS film and upon watching it thinking, "Good Lord... how much more impressive does your film have to be gain a 4-star or better ranking and national acclaim in the scouting world?" His film looked as impressive as that of Ben Boulware, or pretty much any other HS LB's film I have seen. We only offered a gray shirt, and I was sure someone would extend him an offer. Much to my surprise and delight, no one big offered and we landed this young man essentially for free. And it looks as if it is this young man, Jalen Williams, the undersized, undervalued kid, who is set to step into future stardom, at least at Clemson until he is again degraded because he isn't 6'3" when the NFL is in his crosshairs a few years from now. Yes, he still has a lot to prove on the field at Clemson, but barring injury Williams seems bound to be a standout here.
And so goes the recruiting game for us... you win some, you lose some. A national top 100 player inexplicably gives up the sport in the eleventh hour, just before he would get to run down the hill and step out on the turf of Death Valley. And an undersized, unheralded kid with the heart of a lion is taking advantage of every cracked door by kicking it open and running through with steely determination, focus, and blue collar effort which is going to allow him to make the most of all that talent God packed in his 5'10" solid frame.
Go gettem' Jalen!