The McShay Show - From Death Valley to the Draft: Why Clemson’s Defense Could Make History in 2025

Episode Date: July 7, 2025

Welcome back to The McShay Show! The guys are back to break down Clemson’s talented roster—and particularly the defense—which Todd thinks could be the best in program history. They talk player comps, ceilings and floors, and more. (0:00) Welcome to The McShay Show!(1:05) Scouting Clemson's Prospects (7:55) Evaluating Clemson's Top Prospects(13:40) Breaking Down Peter Woods' Tape [DT](19:30) Evaluating TJ Parker [EDGE](31:50) Breaking Down Avieon Terrell [CB](38:17) Evaluating the Clemson D-Line(45:43) Evaluating Wade Woodaz [LB] Subscribe to 'The McShay Report' for access to all of Todd’s scouting reports and tape notes during the Summer Scouting Series. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Host: Todd McShayGuest: Steve MuenchProducers: Tucker Tashjian, Mark Panik, Conor Nevins, and Daniel ComerSocial: Eduardo Ocampo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yeah, you see us. It's not a coincidence. We're wearing Clemson hats. Men didn't like Clemson a year ago. He loves him now. You know why? Because our draft board is littered with bright orange paws. And when we saw that, when we first started putting together the list, we're like,

oh, this Clemson thing, it's a thing this year. We said, we got to have a draft show in the preseason, breaking it down, figure out, is it real? Or scouts overrating these players? Are they legitimate? Are the Tigers back from a decade ago? We're going to find out today. 290 days till the NFL draft.

Mench, you good? I'm good. Let's hear that sweet music. Play me that beat, Tuck! Hey, by the way, by the way, I've always loved Clemson fans. I just thought they deserved better last year. I think they deserved better recently, to be honestly. So I've always been on your side.

It's a nice tiptoe out of it. I covered up everything but that, let me see, except the spider helmet. I can't do that. How many are there? I mean, I get more. So the game, the game is big fans of what we're doing. And I'm a big fan of the game because growing up, like, it was the hat.

Well, they've had a resurgence, okay? And Mike and Gabe, from the game, sent us some hats, okay? and I mean I've got like it was a box fog you see them all around I love the one I'm wearing but this is the old school like this is like what we yeah you know yep this is the and so it's all from the game and we appreciate that and that's why I'm well that combined with the fact that we're doing it Clems says it first we did a bunch of quarterbacks we did jeremiah love we did um we did who else if we just did just did last week the man passing academy. We did Caleb Downs, the safety from Ohio State. Yep. So, so we,

we've been all over the board scouting and getting ready for the season. But you and I notice, we're, you know, looking at some different places in the, in their draft boards. We're putting together our draft board. And there's an awful lot of this bright orange paw everywhere, more so than any other logo when you're staring at the big, you know, vertical, horizontal draft board, right? And, and we're, like, is it this, is it this good? Like, is the talent this good? So I want to, I want to give you a couple things, college football fans and Clemson fans and just fans of the show. This team last year, Clemson, who meant she was not buying and rightfully so for a long time. It was a young team,

both sides of the ball, okay? It was Clubnik's second year as a starter, a bunch of freshmen sophomore receivers, a bunch of young guys. Talented, but young, okay? They come out against Georgia and they're just not ready.

No, they were not. It was ugly. But eventually, Georgia just ran away. Yep. But they kept getting better. They won 12 of their last 14 games. They went on to win the ACC championship

against SMU. That got them in. And by the way, 12 of the 14, the one loss was against Louisville. and with Tyler Shuck and that crew. And the other loss, though, was against a smoldering hot South Carolina team, state rival.

And it was by three points. And they were driving late. Yeah, that was a great game. It was a great game. It wasn't pretty, but it was a great game. So young team getting better every week. And so I just, there weren't a ton of draft prospects from Clemson

and also not looking at it from a lens of the 2025 draft, not 2026, we start to put together the way too early mock draft. And I'm like, fuck, four of the top 10 players are from Clemson or something like, like, you're crazy. And so I started like, you and I were talking like early on. We were talking about what are we going to do this summer? We're like, well, one of these shows is going to be about Clemson. Dabo's, go, today's the day.

So I started thinking as we're doing this before I even put in the tape. I'm like, what's the best roster I can remember? Clemson football, best roster I can remember. And it's probably the Clemson roster. Okay. Sorry. Yeah, no, that would have been Miami, 2001. Yeah, I'm a couple USC from, but no, I'm talking to.

Yeah. In the history of Clemson, because I know during my lifetime, the best roster of NFL talent, it happened during my. lifetime because prior to that they didn't have this level of talent that's what dablo suenis done and this program has elevated to i went back and looked to some of the my you know the draft notes and the history and all that 2018 was the best of my lifetime and probably he was on that team um they went 15 and oh 2018 team first team since 9 since 18 97 for clemson to achieve that feat undefeated they routed a 10-0 1897

really talented, obviously, Alabama team, 44 to 16 in the CFP National Championship that year. Did they lose to them the year before? Did they lose to Alabama the year before? Yes. Yes. Yes. It was that revenge game. The defense that year held eight teams to 10 points or fewer and allowed the fewest points per game in the nation.

Dudes. We're focused. We've talked a lot about Clubnick. There's some offensive guys. There's a couple offensive linemen. There's a couple wide receivers. and we'll get to that throughout the year. This is about like the defense primarily today, okay?

And so you look back and they had a bunch of NFL draft picks, seven first rounders over the next three years from that roster, okay? And three defensive linemen, if you remember correctly, in 2019, because it was a 2018 season that April in 2019, it was the NFL draft. Cleland Farrell went surprisingly, number four to the Raiders, Mike Mayock's first pick. Christian Wilkins, 13th overall. A little head shake on that one.

Go ahead. The Dolphins. And then Dexter Lawrence to the Giants. We had to redraft that. Dexter would be the top one or two pick from that draft. I don't remember who exactly was in it, above Cleland, the first three picks. But they also had Trayvon Mullen,

defensive back. They had Austin Bryant, the other edge. And then Renfro went in the fifth round. But again, in 2020, Isaiah Simmons from that defense went, okay? A.J. Terrell from that defense went. All right. Those guys both went in the first round. And then it was Trevor Lawrence and E.T.N. from that draft. It was all offensive guys. But those next two years, it was a lineback or defensive back. Then Tanner Moos went defensive back. Kvon Wallace went defensive back. So like all these defensive players in the two-year span after.

and a lot of a lot of talent seven seven first rounders from that roster went the next three drafts okay so it gets me to where we are today and i've got munch let me just count it up starting with peter woods then is your top guy yes and he was i'm coming into this and he definitively is now Interesting. Number two is T.J. Parker. Was number two coming into this? Definitively is now. Then we could talk about how things might shake up.

But after those two guys on the defensive line, Avion Terrell, cornerback, Demonte Capehart, defensive tackle, interior defensive lineman, another interior defensive lineman, Stifilin Green, also had Khalil Barnes, the free safety, Number seven, Wade Woodaz, who was 17 last year, but is nine now this upcoming year. And Will Helt, who's a transfer from Purdue. So those are the guys I study. All legitimate NFL draft prospects.

All from the same defense. So that's one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight guys. And I... Are K-part in Woodaz is the only guys who have to come out this year? I think the rest of them can return. It's still a young defense. It's still a young group. I don't think you're wrong.

I don't think that's right. But keep in mind, a lot of these guys are young. Yeah. So here we are. Then we decided, I want you to give me a line or two big picture what your expectation was. And don't get into details. Give me a quick summary. If you had to quickly walk into the GM's office and the GM's like, hey,

are they as talented on the defensive side as all the reports we're getting in from these different places before you watch your tape now that you've watched your tape on this unit are they as good are they better or are they a little overhight let's start with that uh i would say from a college standpoint there is as good as advertisers is going to be a really good potentially great college defense if it all comes together for them in terms of of the draft prospects i'd have to go line by line i will say that that group up front's going to be damn good the group up front's going to be damn good uh the the secondary is talented but i want to see more i think they need to take the next step is kind of how i put it in that

and then to talk about the one linebacker wood as i really like him uh i think he's going to be a really good college player i'm not sure that he's going to be a great pro i think the first two have a chance to be better than advertised Okay. Woods and Parker. I agree with you. Hold on. Their advertise, hold on. What did you have them as advertised as? Because I had them as advertised as potential early first round picks. So how are we getting better than advertised with those two? Now you're making it look like I don't like these guys. I'm not going to stand.

I'm not going to stand for it with my car. Because I got to, I think they both have a chance to be great. And I think Woods has got a chance to be like unbelievable. I agree with you. I actually like Parker more than Woods. Okay. And I can't I wouldn't even be that mad. But I think they were already advertised. I don't disagree with you.

I think and we'll get into all of them right now. But I don't, I think the rest of the defense, it's exactly what you said. The rest of the defense is really talented. Damn good college team. Maybe. And I don't even want to say overrated because I don't think people are like, oh, this guy should be a first round or second round. But in talking to people who is more like, you know, a few more day two guys and early day threes.

I think there's a big gap between the top two or three and the rest of the group. But like to have all of these guys now coming back for another year or transferring in with the experience they have on one defense. And not to mention the offensive line that's going to be better, the wide receivers are better. We talked about in the Manning Passing Academy review, club Nick's going to be better. Could be better at running back. They're, I mean, they are, yeah, this is a team that's. This is definitely the best roster that Dabo has had since 19, since, sorry, 2018.

2018. And now, like, we're getting older. That's seven years ago. And he's doing it. And I just had conversations at the Manning Passing Academy with some people, right? Some of us old dogs are like, didn't know if he could do it. But good on him. He's doing it his way.

Yeah. Because there are a lot of people. More than there are supporters, more people out there are like, Clemson's done. Dabo's done. Not adjusting to the times, not adapting. Can't win like that. The game has changed.

Saving. Swimming upstream. Sabin said goodbye. Urban's all set. Harbaugh's to the NFL. Guys are like fleeing from this madness and nonsense. he's swimming way upstream. I live by the ocean.

I see like the tide when the tide comes roaring in versus that trickle. He's like and all of a sudden he got out in the clear calm water. And he's like, told you I could get here. Yeah. Here I am. All right, Peter Woods. What do you think? A versatile player plays outside and inside for them.

I think he's an elite run defender already. I think that he is, there's anything you want him to do against the run, he can do, he can set the edge, he's tough in the middle. I think he is just scratching the surface in terms of pass rush, but has the potential to be really good there. I gave him a two in pass rush. I gave him a one in run defense, so if you're looking at our skill sets. So he's already an elite run defender. I think he's not yet there as a pass rusher, and I think that's what separates him in, Parker's, and I think Parker's better at getting

into the quarterback, and that's why I have Parker slightly ahead. The thing I liked about Woods, I mean, a lot of things. He legitimately can play all along the line. Yes, in certain roles. Listen, he is not

going to ever be a terror coming off the edge rushing the passer. He does not have that closing speed. He's athletic. He's athletic enough to play out there. Right. Occasionally, he can do it. he i want to see him play inside more that's where he's going to make his living that's where he's going to be great i don't disagree i don't you do it but like what are we saying there like i want him

to be inside i want marika havoc and that's i want him to really hone that craft and get great at that i don't disagree i'm just saying it's interesting seeing a 315 pounder six foot three who can be a terror as a one technique and a three technique and a five technique actually not just rush off the edge with this stand up outside rush outside edge rusher stand up don't see that often and do it effectively and yeah not refined yet and all that stuff but like flashes though damn good body lean body lean rip slap lashes with those hands yep and his feet are as quick as his hit he's not long speed obviously he's 315 but i i i'm i'm i promise you when i put on the tape of parker after even though i watch the same defense i want i watch

them individually same here um when i put on parker's tape it took a little bit of adjusting because parker is taller long straight line power but i actually thought the three hundred and fifteen pounder in some ways had a little bit more like burst suddenness like Interesting. Short area quicks is the word I'm trying to use. I thought he had lightning quick hands. Shouldn't move this well, sudden first and be this sudden first size. The body lean impressed me.

Feeder as quick as hands, plays his ass off too. I should note, 400 snaps. So I went back and looked just to double check and make sure it seemed light. it wasn't like egregiously light and a couple guys we'll get to it a little bit or egregiously light they got depth they're utilizing it they're playing down the south when you here's a trick that you learn early in in a scouting career and and even earlier as a coach the big guys don't recover so as they're younger and they're building up their stamina and all of that and it's not a matter like his effort's awesome he plays his tail off they're protecting him from himself so that

it's kind of like Connor does with me in this show. Sometimes, sometimes get a little bit of time off. Maybe take July off and calm down, Big fella. For them, it's like if we, if we let him go play 25, 30 snaps in the first half

or first two and a half quarters, he might not get us what we need late in the game. And so he had 400 snaps. I went back and checked Mason Graham last year, 528 snaps. which is a good number. Abdul Carter, I looked at, you know, interior and the top edge, Abdul Carter played 734 snaps just for comparison purposes.

So it's light, it's not egregious, but it's light. I think, like you said, refinement as a three technique, his power hand quickness, foot quickness, short area is, and like the lean he has and the flexibility he has at that size I think make him potentially rare three sacks and two seasons I have three and a half sacks last year

did I read the wrong thing? He had all three last year but he played as a freshman too and he had three well I have three so we'll say three and a half if you want which isn't terrible for an interior defensive line but it's not

lighting the world on fire either again the tape's better than the production and I get all of what you're saying. Well, he's probably not going to get home as a pass rusher when he's utilized as a stand-up outside rusher. It's probably not going to get home. But he affected the quarterback a ton. That's a long way for 315 pounds to go as a stand-up outside backer essentially or an edge, stand-up edge. Yeah, that's what I wrote my notes.

There is another gear for him as a pass-rrrrrrratcher or another level. He just hasn't reached it yet. He will. I firmly believe that. And I won't surprise me if six months from now I'm sitting up here and be like, yeah, Woods did what I thought he might do, which is, you know, move past every other defensive line in this draft because he's reached that other level. I just don't see it quite yet. I don't think he's quite there yet. Okay.

Whereas with, can we get into, can we transition Parker here? Please take it yourself. So listen, I'm not comparing him to either one of these two players who are, you know, one was just an early first round draft pick. And the other one is a stud in Jaredverse. but he is, T.J. Parker is more Jaredverse than Abdul Carter, right? He is more power. Everything about him is power. Throw on the Florida State game, he runs right through the face of an offensive guard. Throwing the Virginia Tech game, he runs right through the face of a Virginia Tech offensive tackle. He is a, I get the same place. He is a power rusher. And I'm not talking

about, oh, like he kind of the, he got the offensive lineman off, off balance, or the offensive lineman got his feet hooked up or crossed over, whatever. He ran right through those dudes. See you later. No problem. And he gets to the top of his rush. He does a good job of shooting his hands, getting at the top of his rush, and then having the power in length to get off the block at the top of the rush. He does not bend as well as some other guys. He doesn't have that elite bend. I don't think he closes as well as some other guys. But he, because of that power, he can get after the quarterback. And I love that about his game. And power translates the NFL as we've learned the hard way and over time. He looks every bit of the 265 he's listed at. I mean, he looks like a,

NFL ready defensive lineman and he played in a first round number of snaps for a guy who's your guy 600 40 snaps okay 6 3 265 did you say long arms you just say that oh yeah number yeah long he looks like long arms for six three frame 19 and a half tackles for loss 11 sacks six on the team with 57 tackles which says a lot from an edge um the speed the powers to me and just the power and the length and the locking out um but i put in my notes it's interesting like there was one play against the the georgia right tackle you mentioned the play florida state right guard yeah so he's inside outside too by the way you can he's like he's one of those guys you're going to kick in i think a fair amount i i wrote that here it flashes is a three technique on some obvious

passing downs and those flashes were intriguing to me is what i wrote He's an inside guy in the NASCAR package. He's not going to play there. Yeah, I'm just saying some flashes. Yeah. It was interesting because of what he did on the interior sometimes, like really. And normally the edge guys come in the interior and they cause fits with some of the quickness and the change of direction. He was just like and plowing.

But then Virginia, the left tackle, there was a play. Three of them. I'm watching games like Georgia, uh, uh, F, us you, Virginia. I said Virginia Tech. It was Virginia, yeah. Yeah. And then let me just say this.

I bet you. I bet you. Here we are in July. I bet you. There's still a night or two every month. Or number 77 from Pitt wakes up in a cold fucking sweat. Thinking about number three coming off the edge. that was a nightmare game.

I mean, he, like, every play it felt like, he was doing something to him. And he's like the, you know, pitchers, you know, power pitchers, they don't get guys to buckle their knees with that great off-speed stuff. He doesn't have a lot off-speed. He's not going to get you to buckle, but he will sneak that. He doesn't have that great change of direction, but he will sneak in that, you know, that, that two seamer that moves a little bit on you.

And he does that with offensive tackles where he can just sneak inside a little bit. You get guys to come out outside or his push, pull. Right. He set it. He has his go-to and it's damn good. It's power. It's damn good. And then every once in a while, he's not, it's, you get four-seem, four-seem, four-seem,

and all of a sudden you get this little two-seamer that you haven't seen yet. And that's where he sneaks. As a former offensive tackle, you know I'm not. super fast. I'm not super twitchy. But I'm going to, but I've watched, you've watched the previous tapes. You watched me, you know, just barrel over the right tackle for Georgia, the right guard for Florida State, the whole thing against Pitt, and then the Virginia left tackle. You've, from every angle, you've beaten a guy into inside, right side, left side. You've plowed a guy. What are you going to do preparing to come into this game if I'm that power.

or russia versus me. Well, there's two things. One is the jump set, I think, is effective in that situation because you don't want that guy to build any kind of momentum. So when you see him in a Y-9, you're like, oh, shit. Because now he's got a runway to run into you. But if you're seeing him in a closer alignment, you're thinking, I'm going to jump set, which is to be aggressive, almost like a play action set because you don't want him to build

any momentum. The concern there is he's long and athletic enough to slip you if he sees that coming. So that's an issue for you. The other thing you can do is you can try and pull the rug out from under him. if you see him start to lean with too much forward lean, which is you kind of pull your hands back and try to knock him down. He got caught like that a couple of times. But the reality is, again, what I'm saying is he has that go-to,

but because of his ability to mix it up a little bit, you're in trouble, man. You're sinking in, though. You're not worried about him getting around you. No, but you've got to be talent. You've got to have a certain level of talent to match up with that kid. I'm telling you. Like, I get it.

You don't need to kick out why, like with some of these other guys. you can really sink your hips and dig in. But there's things he can do to counter that too. But that's my point. Like the number one thought is he's not going to beat me with power. So I got to, I got to sink in and I got to be ready for a train coming at me. Right.

And then so when he goes to do that and then he does the push, pull, you're expecting to force. Yeah. Now you're on the face, right? Right. I love that move for him. especially for everyone occasionally,

mix them all in. But for him, when you win with power that many times, someone was smart to coach, this is going to be a really valuable move for you. Because everyone's kind of, I'm getting ready, you know?

And then all of a sudden, they're like this and you go, it's pretty cool to watch. I also like to do his gap responsible. He handled his assignments. He knew when he had to chip someone releasing. He set a hard edge. I thought he was like,

active and did a good good job locating the ball but understood what he had to do for what his responsibilities were which isn't always the case he handles tight ends for the most part the georgia i think one tight end got him but uh they have like 50 tight ends i can't remember which one it was for georgia but for the most part he handles tight ends like you want a power edge to handle tight ends which is thanks for coming out uh this is going to be quick work this is light work for me you know he's stacking and shedding those guys he's he's slipping those guys it's trying to block him with a college tight end is a tough task Yeah. Can you imagine now with a full off season, a little bit more refinement at a move or two,

a little bit more time in the weight room, like maybe like speed foot agility training. He's got a chance to be a problem. I don't know if you want to go there now, but talk about the guy that did this brought in, who I think is going to be an interesting cat on the other side of him. Yeah, let's go. Yeah, the Purdue kid, Will Health, right? Yep. I was, I looked him up a little bit, did a little bit of background.

I'm like, oh, he had five sacks last year. Two of them against Indiana State. I'd like to see a little bit more production against better competition. And then I throw on the tape and I'm like, who, what is this? He is six foot six. He looks every bit of bit of six foot six. He covers ground way better than I thought he would. He was one of the weirder evaluations.

It doesn't make, your brain is trying to wrap around, like trying to figure out what's happening on tape. Because he's actually quick. And he covers ground. He doesn't change directions as well. That happens with tall guys. He's a titanic changing directions. But on a straight line, there's some juice. I'm trying to pump up Clemson fans and pump up his kids.

No, I know, but we're also going to be honest. He's not great versus the run. He gets sucked inside too much. He gets whacked down. He plays too high because he's 6'6, which happens. But then when you go to change direction because you've lost discipline, And like there's some stuff that's got to be worked out in his game. Absolutely.

He's got to play with better leverage. He's got to be more in the state. Like they're not going to put up with that shit at Clemson. No. You got a superstar in Parker. And I just told you all the discipline and the gap assignments and all the things that he does. Like there's going to have to be a mindset shift. And you've got to play with a lot more attention to detail.

And I think he's still kind of working through his hands and all those sorts of things. But when you see him. with those long ass arms and the length to keep guys off his pads and then you see him when they drop him i thought it was because it one of like one of the early key plays in the tape that i was studying had him drop and i'm like like a quick note i'm like kind of look good kind of look good but that was probably an average like you know whatever and then i saw it like over and over and tape i'm like oh there's two drops there was like 97 drops to look at in the breakdowns.

And he's got good instincts. And weirdly, while he can't redirect, he's kind of shifting when he's like opening his hips a little bit, covers a lot of ground, paining the ass to grow around. Yeah, yeah. Quarterback, it's like, what do I, like, do I try to fly it by his ear because he's not used to it?

Or do I have to actually go up, you know, like, those guys are you going to lock that upside as a pass rusher? I know the drop is great. But if you unlock that upside as a pass rusher and you have, woods now on the inside and you have you know parker going inside outside the new defense coordinator tom more is going to have he can play the matchup game all day when you're walking into whatever game and be like oh your offensive guards not good with power we're going to use this guy or this this offense tackles more athletic but can't sit can't sink has no stand in his pants well i got an answer for you like here's this guy's going to come up there's a lot of different things they can do with that group

and again i know i only have five sacks i know that he's got to unlock some stuff i i agree with you wholeheartedly about about the fact that he hasn't come close to reaching his potential. But this kid has got some tools, some tools. And if they can get the best out of them, watch out. Because now you're starting to play the game of who are we going to give help, where are we going to provide help, all that stuff. And you're going to see some simulated pressures from more. You're going to see guys dropping.

It's going to be a nightmare for protection schemes. Yeah. Yeah. I think he's right now if you drop. I said more. It's Alan, by the way. Sorry. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think coming in from Penn State, right? Yep.

I mean, they're not messing around. This is the year at Clemson, truly. Yeah. This is the year. And in their minds, they've waited entirely too long for it, you know, so like there's no patience here. He played, I'm going through the snaps only with the defensive line. I think it's actually important. He played 726 snaps last year.

So now you got two edges who have got like over 1,400 snaps from a year ago. They can be on the field a lot. We can move them around. We want to bring in a young pup who's an edge rusher. We can move them inside. We can drop this guy like you were saying. And they've got depth along the interior. We'll get to that in a minute.

But you and I agree on him. I wrote, there's talent there, but it's got to really be unlocked. To me, he's a day three guy right now. But I see, I see potential. And he could go to the combine to be a day two guy if he tests anywhere like I think he could based on how he moves. So before we get back to the couple other interior defensive linemen, Cape Hart and Green, I do want to take, I want to get to Avion Terrell. And he was 20 last year, Jersey number. Now he's switching to eight this year. Six on the team with 58 tackles, 12 past breakups, two interceptions last year, 511.

180. I want to get to him because coming in, there was kind of the deal, but I didn't know there was as big a gap. I actually think there's, it's the top two defensive linemen that we just talked about, right? Woods and Parker. Then I think there's a gap and then I think it's Terrell, but then I honestly, I think there's a significant gap with the rest of these guys. I think Terrell is a day two player right now. Some people might have them. I had him late in the first round my mock probably wouldn't put him in there right now after I got through the whole class. But he wouldn't, but like I'd have him in the second round if I did a two round mock. I gave him a third round grade.

That's fine. But I'm saying like, so let's get into him because I wanted to be clear. If you're a Clemson fan, you're taking the time to watch the show. I want it to be clear. Like you got two absolute dogs and they're up front. You got a damn good corner. And we're talking about those three guys to me are first, second day players. The first two.

Right. We're talking top 100 players. Top 100 players, the first two being maybe if they elevate top 10 players. Right. Which is wild. That's 2018 shit for Clemson, right? Right. But Terrell, like, I like him a lot, but I see the flaws.

Okay? Yes. Really good and off coverage, I thought. Like, when breaking in front of him can explode out of his pedal. really can good body control around the ball for the most part um i really liked him driving on the ball i think he's he's athletically like quick and sudden and all those things really good and i think he's got easy speed and i preach it a lot as a receiver and a corner there's a difference between yeah he's four three but that he's an easy four three or four or whatever it is easy speed's critical

because when the ball is in the air and you got to if you're recovering if you're a corner it allows you instead of like to be going this fast and under control at the same time and your eyes not bouncing and there's a difference and he's got easy speed in my opinion um i actually weirdly enough because he's kind he's undersized not like vastly but he's light he's light he's 180 he's light a kind he's He's got a little stick to him, a little pop. I actually think he's a good, in the day and age, nobody's tackling well. It's kind of a good form tackler.

The problem is he gets there and wraps up, and sometimes he's got to hold on for the cavalry to come charging in because he can't finish him off. I struggled with the, we do a run defense grade for defensive backs. I struggled with that because I saw that. And then there was other times, and I thought this was true of a lot of his tape. It was a little up and down. I saw what you're seeing.

I mean, the tackle numbers are good, and he will come up and pop guys. He will come up and square up. When he's the forced defender and he has contained, he does a good job with that. And then there's other times where I don't think he takes a good angle or he'll fall off the tackle. And I'm like, and he missed a few too many for me. I didn't think he was an above average soccer. He missed a few too many for me. I thought he had good, yeah, yes.

I thought he had good form. And I think he shows some like pop at times when he gets you right. But it was, yeah, it was too inconsistent. He plays with a lot of emotion, man. He likes to chirp. You could see him chirping out of my corner. Yeah, I kind of like to. I just think he's still working on some of his technique.

The thing that jumped out to me, he got in trouble a handful of times when he got flat-footed at the top of his pedal. When he knows it and, like entrusts it, he gets in and out of that pedal and he shot out like a missile, right? But there were times where there was indecision at the top of his pedal because, The receiver hadn't yet declared at the top of his break, at the top of it, sorry, declared his break angle, if you will, at the top of his stem.

And so a couple times he got beat when that happened. And then there were a couple of times when a receiver was working inside and it would maybe scramble rules or something like that, cutting back to the outsider back here. And like he lost his footing on one time. He didn't recover the, like he just as smooth and easy moving as, he is. If there's a sharp direction change, he kind of has to gather a little bit, which is, I don't know, there was a lot to kind of double moves, give him some problems. Yeah. Yeah. And I,

go ahead. My biggest concern, and I think he was flagged seven times last year. And I think three of them were in the Texas game. I think that he, and I think he gets away with some stuff. On one hand, you love how competitive he is. I think he's very competitive impressed. He's one of those guys who, quote, unquote, plays bigger than their size. I think he's tough. He's, strong, he's physical. I think he's really good impressed, but there's you, there's times where he just does things where it's like, you don't have to do that. He will use that, you know, he'll kind of put his hand on the back of receiver or on the hip of receiver when he doesn't need to when he's in good position or he'll be downfield. And I don't think he panics. I think that's unfair,

but he just gets grabby and he starts pushing guys around and he's, and it's, and it's to me, it's, you don't need to be doing that. There was too much physicality. He's going to also have to adjust to the rules in the NFL with all the downfield contact. I felt like he was just two hands-on at times, and he doesn't need to do that. That's a part of a game that he's going to have to kind of adjust. I don't disagree. But I think we're in the same neighborhood in terms of there's a top tier, there's a second tier, and then the rest of these guys are damn good college players.

There's some upside here. There's some upside there. But they're, I don't want to say, like it's not like we got. six guys that could go in the first two days. It's three. Maybe a fourth could kick up, you know? It's one of those, which is still, which is still better than just about, if not every defense in the country this year as it stands right now.

From the other guys, let's go through the defensive lineman quickly. We don't need to go into long dissertations. I liked 19. I liked Demonte Capehart. I liked him more than me. Me too. At first, I was like, what are we doing here? He's a one-trick pony.

I felt at first and then he grew on me. Go ahead. I like him as a nose. Either is a zero or a one in an even or an odd front, odd or even, I should say. Zero being like face up of the center in the three-man front or shaded to the one technique in between the center and the guard. Strong hands.

I thought what he did best was he controlled blockers. And honestly, I don't know if you picked up on this. I think he's got really, like, uniquely fast eyes locating the football. Instinct, I always, like, whenever someone calls a defensive tackle instinctive, I'm like, okay, how instinctive do you have to be when someone runs right at you? And then you see it. When you see a guy like Capehart, you're like, that's, that's, that's instinct. He's an instinctive guy.

He's, he has a good feel for where blockers are coming from. And like you said about controlling blockers, he's really good to gaping. He's not, he's a little light to be handling double teams. But if you put him right on a center, you line him right over that center, or he only has to take on a guard, he doesn't get doubled, he's going to lock that dude out, he's going to locate the ball and he's going to get off the block. And what else do you want from a guy who's playing on the inside? He's really good at that.

I honestly, like we talk about one being excellent, two being good, three being average, four being below average, five being a marginal. I mean, just to sum him up, I think this dude's a one. run defender yeah i think he's a four but i hear you fine let's meet it at 1.5 and we got a damn good run defender um and i think he's a four pass rusher right the other thing about him in mind he's a 60 year player for a reason he's an old he's an older guy he just got clear to come back for he's had some like injury issues a little bit banged up hasn't really played a huge role i think he's only had two sacks over the course of his career, you know, so these are these are the things that

are probably going to drive him down the board. Yeah, these are things going to drive him down the board, but if you're, when you're looking later in the draft and you're saying, is there a guy out here who are going to come in and help us? This is a dude you want to keep an eye on. Yeah, I view him as like fifth round, run defender, going to be in the rotation. He can help us, yeah. Stifilin green more of a three five technique guy also plays some one technique for Clemson using like a lot of games i thought he played high gets pushed around a lot i also thought he had fast eyes though last year was his real first real action too remember that that he was he's a pup he's still a younger dude i think um he is just turned 20

He was 19 last year. Yeah. So he's young, and I agree with you. There's some things that he's got to do a little bit more. We'll see what happens when he plays a bigger role. Yeah, as a pass rusher, there were a couple times we were really flashed, obvious passing downs with a runway to the guard where he could build and he knew he was past rushing.

Then you could see that speed to power and he could drive guys back. But he's a straight line power-based guy. He's got to expand his game, right? Like he's got a, he's, you now have that. Now let's branch off and start working on counters, secondaries. And also I felt like, to be honestly, I thought his motor was a little hot and cold. Yeah. I thought there was times he chased and there was other times where it was like, oh, you know, I'm kind of, you know.

Yeah, I wrote clearly use them in a rotation for a reason. A lot of young players are like that. Yeah. They don't realize what it takes to really grind every snap, you know? Yeah. Enough to be excited about, though, him going forward. There is, I wrote he's a developing pass rusher with intriguing upside. He's not there yet, but could get there.

And then I thought he's also a guy who's pretty good at locating the ball and getting off blocks. He was a guy that needs to be a little more consistent with it. But he got some, he was able to get off some blocks violently. He was also able to play off some low blocks. And he moves well. He's 290 and he moves well. It'll be interesting to see if he can take the next step. Yeah, he needs to.

But I think there's enough in there where he can. I'll give you 30 seconds on, on Khalil Barnes. You give me 30 seconds and then we'll move on to what else. I can do the same because it's July. Six foot 195. Where's number seven, Jersey, 61 tackles last year. He was fifth on the team for interceptions. I think he's best kind of closer to the line of scrimmage in that nickel role maybe.

Instinctive, tough versus the run. good feel for like fighting off blocks staying involved staying active good angles um and and i thought did a nice job with leverage plays with balance stays on his feet all those things had some big breakdowns in coverage i think this year hopefully some development not like egregious shit but like it was i supposed to or you supposed like a couple where i want to see like are we it was that early in the season like you know both of both of them were versus georgia i should said two big breakdowns against georgia um physical and coverage holds up in contesteds but to me he's a guy like the more space in certain one-on-ones there's some limitations but again like a really damn good

college safety needs to see another level from him next year i'm thinking more day three on him right have to contribute special teams and work to work his way towards a role. But he's got a whole other season at Clemson with a really good front in front of him to continue to get better. Yeah, he's a nickel who could play safety. I think he's more of a nickel guy. I agree with you in that sense. Seven picks over the last two years. So his first two seasons, he's had seven picks.

I love the way he's one of those guys that just the ball seems to find him. And he locates it. And he's just got a feel for reading the quarterback and all that stuff. stuff. I have a note that he played receiver in addition to defensive back in high school, and he plays the ball like a wide receiver. So the ball skills and the versatility are all like that. I'm on the other side of the run stopping stuff. I think he's got to get better there. I think he gets stuck on blocks. I think he's got to be a little. I'm not saying he's not tough, by the way. So we do agree. I do think he's willing to mix it up, but he's a leaner dude. I think he's got

to fill out his frame. And I wholeheartedly agree with you on some of the, the, the, am I in the right place? And I think adding on to that a little bit is, doesn't play fast because of it. You know, there's getting caught in a position, and then there's not playing fast because of something. And there were times where he, especially when he was playing safety, where I was like, man, like, you cannot be that late reading and reacting to that break.

You've got to be, you've got to be there quicker. Wade Woodhouse, number nine. He was 17 last year, 6-3-235, led the team with 83-10. tackles. Again, like fast eyes, has some initial pop knocking blockers off the pads, off his pads. Fights hard, like continues to pursue, wrap up tackler. I thought kind of quick laterally, okay, coming forward, but really slow to redirect in space, lacks top end recovery speed. Like if he gets out of position, he's not going to get back in it. Not a lot of knockback power. wrap up, but he's not in a lot, like, you know.

Yeah, I mean, he's listed at 235, which is decent size for linebacker, but he's also 6.3, and you can see it on tape. He's got a real lean lower body. So sometimes it gives ground. filled out a little bit more powerful, a little bit, a little stronger at the point. I like this patient still, like sifting through some stuff. I thought a good job with ball location. I just, like the traits in coverage. And I think, he's going to have to be like protected in certain matchups and how much area he's relied upon. But again, like he's a great college football player. And I think day three, like I had read like maybe day two, maybe top lineback.

Like I don't see that level. But I think he's like a pretty awesome college linebacker who could find a niche in the NFL, special teams, backup, you know, and continue to develop. And I want to see this year. Like, is he playing faster? Did he get more physical? Did you get physically stronger? There's some upside there. But, but yeah, at the very least, if you're a Clemson fan, you know, like, I got a dog.

I got a guy who's been through the wars and is ready to lay it all out there for me. Yep. There's not much I would disagree with you on all of that. I would say the one thing that was interesting to me was I kept watching and was like, he doesn't quite trigger like he has elite instincts. And to me, what I came down to was that he's disciplined. He reads his keys. and he's tall so he can track the ball well.

So he may not be right out of the gate, but he's almost never out of position and he's usually quick enough between those three things. He's usually quick enough to get there before blockers are able to square up on him. Length is an asset in coverage, but it does. I think he's okay in underneath zone

because he has some length, and I think he's okay turning with guys, but you're right, man. If you get him to go side to side, he's in pro-like, if you ask him to defend an arrow route from a good running back coming out of the backfield, you were going to see it.

You're going to see that tightness. Special teams, backup, probably a great guy in the locker room, all of those things. There's a lot of college coaches who would want Wade Woodhouse playing linebacker for them, all of those things. But I agree with you. As a pro, we're looking at probably a day three prospect

who's going to come in and kind of carve out a role as a backup and special teams guy. Awesome last name too. All right. Woodass, yeah. It's July, folks. like barbecues, beach, hiking, if that's your thing. Like, get out there.

Have fun. Tune in when you can. We love you for it. We're going to go once a week for the month of July. Happy to be doing it, but also happy to spend some time with our family, with our friends, enjoying it as we gear back up into August. But you can catch us once a week here. Love you, brother.

Enjoy some time off. Love you too, man. Right, that beautiful family of yours. And I will see next week. All right, later. Must be 21 plus and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus and present in D.C. Gambling problem? Call 1-800 gambler or visit RG-Help.com.

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