The Clemson football hits the quarterback target and hits the reset button

After last weekend’s Elite Junior Day, Clemson football appeared to be on the recruiting trail.

Not only had the Tigers landed two commitments in three days, they were the subject of more talk, both short-term and longer-term.

While the longer timeframe still looks promising, one of those who ended up going shorter was quarterback Walker White of Arkansas, a four-star prospect with Arkansas heritage who was believed to be looking to carve his own path outside of his home state. , checked all the boxes and held the Clemson offer.

White had several predictions for Clemson, but ultimately chose Auburn at the last minute.

The momentum stopped.

Make of that what you will, but given the number of initial projections and sources that Walker was headed to Clemson and what he ultimately committed to, it’s not unreasonable to wonder if the NIL was involved.

There’s nothing wrong with that, NIL is legal, at least if it’s done correctly as intended, and I don’t know of anything that would suggest otherwise.

If you’re Clemson, it’s water under the bridge and there’s only one reaction: Move on to the next guy.

Except I had to ask myself “Who’s the next guy?”

The Tigers are notoriously tight with their offers, and White was one of two quarterbacks to hold offers from Clemson, the other being five-star Jadyn Davis, who has long been linked to Michigan.

After abandoning their quarterback target, Clemson football needs to go back to the drawing board and evaluate options

Two names I’ve heard are Jake Merklinger and Marcos Davilla.

Merklinger is 4 stars talent out of Savannah, Georgia Calvary Day School, ranked No. 81 in the 247sports.com combine and the No. 7 quarterback.

Davi is currently TCU’s only 2024 commitment, a 6’4, 217-pound 4-star from Midland, Texas, whose page at 247sports.com shows offers from Texas A&M, North Carolina State, Houston and more.

The connection is obvious, as Davilla committed to TCU on Dec. 22, 2022, when Garrett Riley was the offensive coordinator and Riley is listed as his recruiter of record on 247sports.com.

Merklinger is a little more obscure and early returns indicate Clemson may be late to the party on this one.

It’s a drag when you offer so few players at a time.

Elite Junior Day returns say Clemson’s selective approach means the Tigers’ offer means something because they are few and far between, but on the other hand, when you forget, it’s almost like starting over.

That may not be the case here, as Riley already has a relationship with one, and with the history of the Tigers’ staff, you’d have to believe they’ve done their due diligence on the other.