Meet 2018's top 2 college football recruits. They're both Clemson commits

The Tigers currently have verbals from the cream of the crop.

Clemson’s 2017 recruiting class was, on the surface, kind disappointing. The Tigers finished No. 16 in the recruiting rankings after winning the national championship. But there was more to that class than met the eye.

For starters, the relatively low ranking came because it takes a little while for a championship to really take hold.

The Tigers did just win a national title. It’s generally believed, however, that teams get more of a recruiting bump from the class that signs 13 months after winning, than they do with the class signing a month after a team takes home the trophy. This is because coaches only have a month to sell the national title to the current class, but a full year to do it to the next class.

But the other reason is the number of players Clemson signed. The Tigers only brought in 14 recruits; only one other team in the top 100 of the recruiting rankings signed a class that small. But there was obviously quality in that quantity, given the fact that Clemson’s class still finished as high as it did in the rankings. Clemson’s 2017 class had an average 247Sports Composite player rating of 92.09, an elite score.

This season, they’re taking quality to an even higher level, with the best two prep prospects in the country already verbally committed.

The first is quarterback Trevor Lawrence.

Lawrence is the top recruit in the country for good reason, and he could be the first QB since Matt Barkley in 2009 to finish No. 1 overall. It’s been a couple cycles since there was a can’t-miss QB like Lawrence. Lawrence will most likely be the heir apparent to Deshaun Watson’s legacy at Clemson. It’s pretty easy to see why.

Such a talent is Lawrence that he held up the quarterback recruiting cycle for several teams, as they waited to move on to secondary targets until he made his commitment. As a junior, Lawrence was regarded more highly than almost all of the quarterbacks in the senior class ahead of him.

He’ll likely be joined by DE Xavier Thomas.

And the Tigers have a crown jewel for the defense, as well. Thomas committed to the Tigers this spring and is the No. 1 overall defensive player in the class, No. 2 in total behind his future teammate.

With Thomas, it’s about getting to the passer, just like a former standout Tigers edge rusher did before him.

Like most five-star ends, Thomas prides himself on his pass rushing. Asked by SB Nation’s Bud Elliott earlier this year if he thought he could become like any particular NFL player, he named former Clemson and current Falcons star Vic Beasley.

“Just the fact that his speed off the edge, he’s an edge rusher, and I watched him at Clemson,” Thomas says, and adds, “I really relate my game to him.”

And the Tigers probably aren’t done collecting top prospects, either.

The nation’s No. 1 running back and No. 5 player overall, Zamir White, is also considering Clemson. His pledge would give the Tigers an unbelievably impressive haul atop a 2018 class that most teams would already be overjoyed about. Thomas is on the front lines of recruiting White.

“We have the opportunity — I talked to Zamir White, and Trevor [Lawrence], of course Trevor’s already committed there,” he said. “Me and Zamir talked how we could have one of the best classes to ever go there, top three players in the country, [could] have a very special class going there.”