Kyle Parker is coming to the end of his first season as Clemson’s starting quarterback, and has fared fairly well in his inaugural campaign on the job.
However, he could very well be a one-and-done as the Tigers’ QB.
Parker, in addition to excelling on the football field, is also a Top-100 baseball prospect and will be eligible for MLB’s draft this June. Head coach Dabo Swinney says he expects “Kyle to be back”, but Parker is non-committal as to what his sports future will hold.
“I still have a lot of things to figure out and a lot of decisions I have to make soon,” Parker said. “But the biggest thing was I enjoyed being out here (playing football). I’m not going to be able to do both forever, so right now I’m enjoying having the opportunity.”
While it’s obvious that one of the factors that will play into Parker’s decision will be where he’s taken in the June draft — and how big of a signing bonus he can secure — another that will play a big role is the presence of Tajh Boyd.
The highly-touted Boyd was a redshirt this past season, but is expected to be a major factor in the spring practice QB derby whether Parker is involved or not.
JT,
I noted this weeks ago. Parker will be drafted. One option you did not mention is that he may choose to take a little less money from MLB in order to play football in the fall for Clemson. Riley Cooper did that this past year with the Gators. He will miss Spring football but I think his freshman season puts him much further along than the redshirt freshman. If I was Dabo I would tell him to come back for just one more year so he can start at QB and they can get the redshirt up to speed so he is ready to take over after next season and Parker can try to make the bigs during his JR and SR seasons of eligibility. His height will limit his pro prospects in football but he could help Clemson win their first ACC title in 19 years. He would be a legend in that town forever.