Tajh Boyd

QB · Clemson
A top 10 quarterback recruit coming out of Hampton, Va., Boyd chose Clemson over Ohio State and Oregon In what would be a precursor to the toughness Boyd has displayed at Clemson, he played his senior year of high school with a torn ACL that required surgery after he led Phoebus High to the second of two state titles. Boyd redshirted and saw limited time as a freshman in 2010. He became the starter in 2011 and turned heads as Clemson won the ACC and earned a spot in the Orange Bowl. If the Heisman Trophy was awarded after eight games, Boyd would have been the frontrunner in '11 as he led Clemson to an 8-0 start with a 24-3 TD-INT ratio over that stretch. However, just like Clemson, he struggled down the stretch. Boyd struggled through some more inconsistency in 2012, but continued to put up staggering numbers en route to being named the ACC Offensive Player of the Year. He led the Tigers to an 11-2 record while setting regular-season ACC records for touchdowns responsible for in a single game (eight) and season (41). He saved his best for last, engineering a dramatic fourth-quarter comeback victory over LSU in the Chik-fil-A Bowl. The final drive included an excellent completion in a tight window on a fourth-down situation that kept Clemson's hopes alive. It's the impressive skills and toughness Boyd displayed against LSU that will make scouts review his tape extremely closely. However, his inconsistency could well divide the scouting community as to Boyd's value on draft day. As many times as Boyd bailed Clemson out of a jam, he had almost as many puzzling mistakes and poor decisions.