Camp Confidential: Day three

2015 strongside defensive end Dylan Jackson of Maryville (TN)

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Fri Jun 07 12:29:47 GMT-04:00 2013

CLEMSON – Friday was the last day of Dabo Swinney Dabo Swinney
Head Coach
View Full Profile ’s first high school camp session of 2013, and while many of the top names have already left, there were still some players worth watching who went through the morning workouts.

I went back over to the tight ends group, where 2014 Nate Craft out of Brookwood (AL) continued to impress. I wrote about Craft on the first day, watched him work out with a few more-heralded players on the second day and watched again this morning as he worked out with former Clemson tight end Durrell Barry and tight ends coach Danny PearmanDanny Pearman
Assistant Head Coach / Tight Ends
View Full Profile .

Craft was constantly asking questions of Barry and looking for more coaching, and it’s easy to see he will be very coachable on the next level.

2014 Nate Craft out of Brookwood (AL)

Craft reminds me a lot of current Tiger tight end Stanton Seckinger – tall and lanky but with great hands. Craft is listed as a wide receiver by most scouting services, but he spent all of his time with the tight ends during his camp stay. With a kid like this, you have to project, and it’s easy to see where he could get up to 215 pounds. He runs great routes, catches everything thrown his way, and has really helped his stock with his production in camp.

Swinney stopped to watch Craft during his rounds, and it was easy to see that he was talking to Pearman about the rising senior. Craft has one offer – Jacksonville St. – and the Tigers have all they need at tight end for the 2014 recruiting cycle unless they offered as a walk-on, but it bears watching.

*Another prospect that really helped his stock during the camp was 2015 strongside defensive end Dylan Jackson of Maryville (TN), the former high school of Clemson center Jay Guillermo.

Jackson impressed on the first day when there were older players in his group – he has great size (6-6, 230) and quickness, and spent a lot of time with defensive ends coach Marion HobbyMarion Hobby
Assistant Coach / Defensive Ends
View Full Profile .

Jackson tallied over 60 tackles for Maryville last season – impressive from a defensive end spot – and earned his first D1 offer earlier this week when Vanderbilt offered. There will be more offers to come for Jackson, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Clemson offer before he left camp Friday.

Jackson has the kind of height you love to see from a pass-rusher, and he was very open to the coaching. Despite working with a bunch of less-talented players in the early Friday session, he was all motion and effort, and it was obvious to see that he has the goal in mind of earning that Clemson offer.

During his work on the sleds in Wednesday’s session, he appeared to be the strongest of the group and showed some quickness during agility drills on Friday.

*Two Homerville (GA) Clinch County prospects left Clemson’s camp Thursday with offers – 2016 defensive end Chauncey Manac Chauncey Manac
Defensive End
6-3, 220
Homerville, GA
View Full Profile and 2015 cornerback Octavis Johnson.

As a freshman, Manac had 68 tackles, 21 tackles for loss, and five sacks. Manac appeared to be bigger than his 6-3, 220 and looked like he could be one of those guys that develops into an ESPN 300 or even 150 players. He also has an offer from Tennessee, but many, many more will follow.

Dabo Camp - Day 3 Photos >>