Wake Forest focuses recruiting class on offensive skill

Published Feb. 4, 2015 6:23 p.m. ET

foxsports

Dave Clawson had a better idea of what his Wake Forest program needed this signing day.

Clawson announced a 23-player recruiting class on Wednesday that was heavy on offensive skill players.

He took the Wake Forest job in December 2013 and had only about two months to build his first recruiting class.

With more time to construct this year's class, he could better tailor it to the Demon Deacons' specific needs.

Wake Forest had the nation's worst total offense last season, averaging 216.3 yards, and ranked next-to-last by scoring 14.8 points per game.

Clawson said ''when we got the job, we knew on offense we had our work cut out for us'' and focused last year on building the line.

He said this year's emphasis was on skill players.

Wake Forest signed five receivers, two running backs, three offensive linemen, two quarterbacks and a tight end.

According to Scout.com, the Demon Deacons had no four-star recruits but 15 of them earned three stars.

Clawson said recruiting at Wake Forest means focusing on ''guys who love football'' because the Demon Deacons tend not to get the can't-miss, five-star players.

''We do very well with guys that want a 40-year deal, not a 4-year deal,'' Clawson said.

The most intriguing member of this class might be running back Rocky Reid.

The Mount Pleasant native - and nephew of former Wake Forest and NFL receiver Kenny Moore - rushed for more than 7,700 yards and 90 touchdowns during his high school career.

Quarterback Kendall Hinton of Durham is one of four players who has already enrolled. The other quarterback in the class, Kyle Kearns, threw for 6,300 yards and 70 touchdowns during his high school career in California.

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Top 25 class: No

Best in class: Rocky Reid, RB, Mt. Pleasant.

Best of the rest: Kendall Hinton, QB, Durham; Kyle Kearns, QB, Sam Ramon, California.

Late addition: Jessie Bates, DB, Fort Wayne, Indiana.

One that got away: TE Jake Bargas.