Clemson Recruiting: 5-star Dexter Lawrence commits to Tigers

The Clemson Tigers picked up the commitment from five-star defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence.

Things are looking good for the Clemson Tigers on the football field where they are the No. 1 ranked team in the nation and on the recruiting trail where Dabo Swinney’s team received the commitment from five-star defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence (Wake Forest, N.C. Wake Forest) on Monday afternoon.

Lawrence is the nation’s No. 3 overall recruit, No. 2 defensive tackle and the No. 1 recruit in the state of North Carolina, according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings. The 6-5, 330-pound defensive lineman picked Clemson over offers from Florida, NC State, Alabama and others.

He is the second five-star commitment in the 2016 class, joining all-purpose back Tavien Feaster, and is the 13th member of the class that sits at No. 18 nationally and No. 2 in the ACC, according to the 247Sports Team Rankings.

That first number is likely to climb in the next few weeks with Clemson expected to be one of the bigger closers between now and National Signing Day in February. Adding a College Football Playoff National Championship in January will certainly help Clemson’s cause in that regard.

Lawrence will be busy preparing for the U.S. Army All-American Game in January where he’ll look to use his rare combination of size and strength and dominate the other top high school recruits in the country before beginning his career in the ACC with Clemson.

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We’ve seen Clemson send a number of defenders to the NFL in recent years after developing top recruits in college and Lawrence will try to be the next former top recruit-turned college star-turned NFL draft pick under Swinney’s watch.