Clemson Tigers Unfortunately Removed from Top OL's Finalist Group

The Clemson Tigers have missed out on a major top offensive lineman after being removed from his list of finalists.

Dec 29, 2018; Arlington, TX, United States; Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney argues a call in the second half against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the 2018 Cotton Bowl college football playoff semifinal game at AT&T Stadium. / Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

The Clemson Tigers were hoping to add five-star offensive lineman David Sanders to their 2025 recruiting class. Sanders has been very high on Clemson throughout his recruiting process and has now released his group of finalists.

Unfortunately, Clemson did not make the final cut and will miss out on the prized offensive lineman.

Sanders will instead pick between the Georgia Bulldogs, Nebraska Cornhuskers, Ohio State Buckeyes, and Tennessee Volunteeers.

BREAKING: Five-Star Plus+ OT David Sanders Jr. will Announce his Commitment on August 17th, he tells me for @on3recruits

The 6’6 285 OT from Charlotte, NC will choose between Georgia, Nebraska, Ohio State, & Tennessee

Where Should He Go?👇🏽https://t.co/YaztIGz5OL pic.twitter.com/l7Ox6TKSOl

— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) July 7, 2024

While missing out on Sanders is a massive disappointment for the Tigers, they have been able to add three other linemen in the 2025 class.

Dabo Swinney was able to secure commitments from both Braydon Jacobs and Easton Ware, along with Rowan Byrne

Not long ago, Clemson was one of the favorite schools to end up landing Sanders. Things have clearly changed, which is a bit of a surprise. Not even being in the finalist group is a major surprise.

Following the news that the Tigers have missed out on Sanders, offensive line coach Matt Luke will have more work to do to round out the offensive line. There are still some good offensive linemen available in the 2025 class to pursue.

It will be very interesting to see which school Sanders ends up committing to. Ohio State already has the top ranked recruiting class in 2025 and adding the standout offensive lineman would make them even stronger.

Clemson has missed out on quite a few of their top targets in 2025 and 2026. However, they were able to recently get a commitment from quarterback Tait Reynolds. Not all the recruting news recently has been bad.

Looking to the future, it will be interesting to see where Clemson turns after missing out on Sanders. He would have been a massive addition, but now the team will need to pivot and figure out another way to add talent to their offensive line.

Expect to hear more news about the Tigers in the coming weeks. They're far from being done with their 2025 recruiting class if they can land another elite talent or two.

Swinney and his coaching staff are one of the hardest working recruiting staffs in the nation and are sure to rebound strong from this disappointing news.