Christian Wilkins to Clemson: Tigers Land 4-Star DT Prospect

Clemson's defense just got a whole lot bigger.  

Christian Wilkins, a 4-star defensive tackle prospect who has starred at Suffield Academy in Connecticut, announced his decision to attend Clemson on Monday, adding the latest coup to the Tigers' 2015 class.

Wilkins chose Clemson over a group that included Penn State and Ohio State. Well more than 20 schools in all expressed interest during this process, a majority of which coming from the ACC-Big Ten region—where high school coaches got pretty familiar with Wilkins' brand of dominance.

A 6'4", 290-pound defensive tackle, Wilkins is considered the No. 56 prospect in the nation and eighth-best player at his position by 247Sports' composite rankings. He's also the top-ranked prospect in the state of Connecticut.

Given Connecticut's overall shakiness as a hotbed of Division I talent, Wilkins has consistently been at a size and skill advantage throughout his high school career. His ability to overpower opposing offensive linemen at the line of scrimmage made him impossible to block without double- and triple-teams.

A starter since his freshman season, Wilkins recorded 57 total tackles and seven sacks as a junior, according to MaxPreps, despite coaches scheming to mitigate his effectiveness.

More impressive is Wilkins' overall versatility for a kid his size. He also lined up occasionally at tight end in the Suffield offense, going for 209 yards through the air as a sophomore. It's highly unlikely that he'll get any time on the offensive side of the ball in college—outside of some possible jumbo sets—but his ability to step in speaks well for his athletic profile.

"He has great athleticism for his size," Suffield Academy coach Drew Gamere told ESPN's Jared Shanker (h/t ESPNBoston.com's Brendan Hall). "I forget he's 300 pounds all the time." 

In mid-May, 247Sports' crystal ball said he was a 91 percent certainty to attend Ohio State, with Notre Dame coming in at a 9 percent chance. Now in early January, the crystal ball changed dramatically, as Penn State was favored at 81 percent, followed by Ohio State at 16 percent and Notre Dame at 3 percent.

Thus, Wilkins' decision may come as a surprise to many considering those were more well-informed guesses than anything. Wilkins did a great job of keeping his options open. He is going to have an adjustment period to deal with the uptick in competition, which the Tigers should be able to afford him. It would be surprising if he played all that much as a freshman.

Wilkins is a tantalizing talent and bolts off the snap for someone his size. He's just not equipped with the necessary moves and counters needed to deal with actually going against players his size. What's more, Wilkins will also be making the adjustment from defensive end to defensive tackle—similar positions, but ones with entirely different responsibilities.

For someone so physically gifted and already equipped with a college body, Wilkins is a bit of a project. There's no reason to think he won't develop with Clemson's infrastructure in place. We're just more likely to hear about Wilkins' ascent as a junior and senior rather than an instant domination.

Considering Wilkins was looking at schools in direct competition with the Tigers, it's safe to say they'll be more than happy to express a little patience.

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