Everything You Need to Know About National Signing Day 2012

Due to their less exciting and much quieter weekends, college football fans everywhere look forward to a few offseason events while patiently awaiting the next season. One of the most important of these events is National Signing Day.
 
For those of you who might not be as knowledgeable on the topic, National Signing Day (NSD) is when top prospects all over the country sign their letters of intent (LOI) to the school they plan on attending and playing for. Often, some of these players have not yet made their decisions, and the nation is eager to see who will go where. It is also when fans can get a glimpse at who will be joining the team come September when you’ll be back in Death Valley.
 
Clemson’s recruitment class for 2012 shows a lot of promise and room for growth as the fall approaches. There are 20 recruits total, with eight of them having a four-star ranking. Our class rankings are high with other football powers as we are ranked no. 16 by Scout, no. 14 by Rivals, and no. 9 by ESPN.
 
Five Recruits You Should Know About
Though the class is full of endless talent and potential, we decided to highlight 5 four-star standouts in the group of recruits. You will probably hear a good deal about the guys in the upcoming season, so here is a little background information on them:

1. Carlos Watkins – Defensive Tackle of Forest City, NC 
   
   It looks as if we should have a Watkins on both offense and defense to watch out for. At 6’4” and 275 pounds, Carlos Watkins will hopefully be ready to go as soon as he gets here as we need him to apply pressure on the quarterback. As a junior at Chase High School, he recorded 50 tackles, with 29 tackles for a loss and 14 sacks. He also played numerous positions. We are excited to see what Watkins has to offer the Tigers!

2. Travis Blanks – Defensive Back of Tallahassee, FL

   Blanks has already graduated and enrolled into the university in order to participate in spring practice. He is extremely fast, running the 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds. Blanks was ranked the no. 15 overall player and no. 2 safety in the nation. In his senior year at North Florida Christian School, he recorded 104 tackles and four interceptions. He reminds us of another defensive back from Tallahassee, DeAndre McDaniel who has recently signed with the San Diego Chargers. Hopefully he will have the same impact on the program as McDaniel had.

3. Germone Hopper- Wide Receiver of Charlotte, NC
   Hopper will be a great addition to our receiving duo of Sammy Watkins and DeAndre “Nuke” Hopkins. At six feet tall and 165 pounds, he can run the 40-yard dash in 4.48 seconds. He rushed for more than 4,000 yards and 50 touchdowns total in his high school career at the Phillip O. Berry Academy of Technology. Hopper should definitely bring more talent to the Tiger offense.
    

4. Zac Brooks- Athlete of Jonesboro, AK

   Hope Andre Ellington, Sammy Watkins, and DeAndre Hopkins don’t mind, but there’s another fast kid with dreads on the team. Brooks is usually referred to as an athlete, meaning he can play more than one position. His areas are wide receiver and running back, and he is listed as a running back on clemsontigers.com. He is currently enrolled and will be going through spring practice and could possibly be the first player from Arkansas to ever play in a game for Clemson. Brooks racked up 1,358 rushing yards and 211 receiving yards in his junior year. If he can do that for us, he can most definitely be our first Arkansas player! He and Mike Bellamy could do some damage together once Ellington is gone—assuming all stays well with Bellamy.

5. Chad Kelly- Quarterback of Buffalo, NY
   You may have heard about Chad Kelly already, whether it had been for football or drama reasons. On one hand, Chad is the nephew of ex. Buffalo Bills quarterback and Hall of Famer Jim Kelly. He is 6’2” and finished his senior season with 3,045 passing yards and 1,012 rushing yards. On the other hand, he has already been a bit of a pain in the football program’s side. He and Cole Stoudt, who is the backup quarterback to Tajh Boyd, subtly exchanged words towards each other on Twitter, beginning with Kelly’s statement “Your on the bench for a reason.” Despite their cold words and Kelly’s spelling error, the two have since made up. Hopefully, Chad will bring talent to this program and will avoid conflict with teammates from now on. 

Though there are several players we did not mention, such as Isaiah Battle and DJ Reader, this recruiting class looks like a good one. With all the new talent coming in and a new, young defensive coordinator in Brent Venables, there should be no reason we cannot fix our defensive woes, strengthen our offense even more, and kick off another New Year with our Tigers in Miami. This time, with a much happier ending.
 
War Damn Chick-Fil-A
 
By far, the most interesting and unusual story from NSD was learning that Cassanova McKinzy, an outside linebacker from Birmingham, Alabama, had chosen Auburn over Clemson due to our lack of Chick-Fil-A. Naturally, your first thought is of the Chick-Fil-A that sits on Highway 123, your second thought is of the Chick-Fil-A in the Canteen, and your third thought is “Is this guy serious?” We’ve included the ridiculous video for those of you that haven’t had the honor of viewing it yet. McKinzy later cleared up that Chick-Fil-A played no real role in his decision and says that he “was just being funny.” Let’s hope so, Cassanova. Because we’re laughing at you, not with you. 

Source:
http://www.tigernet.com/recruiting/
http://clemson.greenvilleonline.com/
http://www.shakinthesouthland.com/2011/10/14/2491294/dt-carlos-watkins-commits-to-clemson
http://www.mountainislandweekly.com/sports/2011/06/the-skys-the-limit/
http://www.orangeandwhite.com/news/2011/nov/18/chad-kelly-hits-30001000-mark-conclude-career-st-j/