NSD 2020 Notebook: Clemson Is College Football's New 5-Star Factory

It began in a gymnasium in Gainesville High School in 2013, where Chad Morris, Clemson's former offensive coordinator, spent years watching Deshaun Watson play basketball.Football was always a given with Watson. And in this cycle, with Lawrence poised to play one more year before declaring for the NFL draft, it added DJ Uiagalelei, a 5-star, 246-pound quarterback capable of throwing a football more than 80 yards.Uiagalelei is unquestionably the face of the Tigers' 2020 recruiting class. And while Clemson has secured top-15 and even top-10 classes over the past five years, this is something new."They were recruiting 5-stars, but now they're getting more of them," Barton Simmons says. And Etienne, who shocked the sport when he announced he was returning for his senior year after accumulating more than 1,600 rushing yards in back-to-back seasons.But also the years to follow, which will be shaped by players in this class and others still to come. And at quarterback, a position that will be judged much differently at LSU for years to come, Max Johnson (No. 10) has the size (6'4½", 216 lbs) to make him an intriguing asset.There are future stars scattered throughout the class, and they will join a roster stocked full of talented players waiting for their chances. As of the morning of national signing day, they all have higher-ranked recruiting classes than USC.In some ways, we shouldn't be surprised. I do not attend high school football games every Friday night like many recruiting writers and reporters. However, I have seen enough gifted athletes across all levels of football to have an idea of what greatness looks like.And in that time, I have never seen anyone in the sport built quite like Darnell Washington.At 6'8" and 261 pounds, he is a 5-star prospect—a tight end who also logged snaps at defensive end at Desert Pines High School in Las Vegas."I've told him before that he will be the Zion Williamson of college football," David Hill, his assistant coach and mentor, told me in the spring when I profiled Washington for Bleacher Report. 2020's Instant Impact Player: Bijan Robinson, TexasThe nation's No. 1 running back and No. 15 player overall will likely be asked to help power an offense that needs a surge. And yes, hope will come in the form of a name that sounds like a cocktail you would order on a remote beach.Gavin Beerup (QB, Wyoming): A 3-star recruit out of California with a name that will be celebrated in taverns around Laramie for years to come. Follow him on Twitter: @KegsnEggs.How National Signing Day affects the rankingsFor the second time in three years, Kirby Smart's program is the recruiting champ@KegsnEggs wonders if Clemson can actually improve in his National Signing Day notebook