The Clemson Tigers should be considered among the best college football teams going into the 2025 season. And the Tigers have a player set to make his emergence nationally, much like quarterback Cade Klubnik did last season.
Recently, 247Sports.com (subscription required) published a list of 15 college football players that are set to emerge on the national scene. While everyone around the Clemson program and the ACC knows defensive end Peter Woods, the site believes the rest of the country is about to find out about him.
In some ways, his 2024 season doesn’t look that imposing on paper. He finished the year with 32 tackles, including 8.5 tackles for loss, three sacks and a forced fumble. But, the Tigers also moved him around from the interior line to the end.
But, at 6-foot-3, 315 pounds, the Alabaster, Ala., native had an impact wherever the Tigers lined up him. But it only earned him All-ACC honorable mention selection.
He was coming off a 2023 in which he was recognized around the country, as he was named freshman all-American by 247Sports, the FWAA, On3, College Football News and College Football Network. He was a Pro Football Focus all-Freshman team selection and maned the freshman interior defender of the year by College Football Network.
That season he had 27 tackles (2.5 for loss) and a forced fumble as primarily a defensive tackle.
Two things should help Woods this coming season. First, the hiring of defensive coordinator Tom Allen should help put him in a scheme that will take better advantage of his talent. Second, the Tigers actually went into the transfer portal for defensive end help, snagging Will Heldt and Jeremiah Alexander.
That should enable Allen to move Woods back to the interior where he is better suited.
The Tigers are coming off a season in which they bounced back from a disappointing 2023, during which they went 9-4. Clemson won the ACC title with a victory over the SMU Mustangs, clinching a berth in the CFP and losing to Texas in the first round. The Tigers finished the season 10-4.
Clemson has been a perennial in the CFP since it started more than a decade ago. Only Alabama has made more CFP appearances (eight) than Clemson’s seven. All of those appearances have come under Dabo Swinney, who has taken the Tigers to four CFP title games and two national championships in that span.
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