Five-star recruit Peter Woods ready to ‘prove myself’ for Clemson football
To defensive line coach Nick Eason, he has “the tools to be very dominant … tools that I haven’t seen in a guy that just turned 18 years old — or ever.”
To defensive ends coach Lemanski Hall, he has the same head-turning talents as program legends Dexter Lawrence and Christian Wilkins.
And to Dabo Swinney, Peter Woods is simply Halley’s Comet.
“Very rare,” the Clemson football coach said.
That’s high praise and higher expectations for someone who turned 18 years old in March and has logged zero career snaps for the defending ACC champion Tigers.
But it’s the type of hype that has long followed Woods, a five-star talent from Thompson (Ala.) High School and the most-talked-about player in Clemson’s 2023 recruiting class. So, any pressure?
“No, that’s high school ratings,” Woods said Saturday. “I’m here just like I was in eighth grade when I came up to varsity, playing high school. It’s the same thing. Same mindset for me. I feel like I have to prove myself just like anywhere else I’ve ever been.”
The early returns indicate that’s been going pretty well for Woods, who gave his first media interview since enrolling at Clemson on Saturday as part of a Dear Old Clemson NIL event.
“It’s been great,” Woods said. “I’m excited to get on campus with my brothers, my new class. Learning a lot from the old guys. And, you know, it’s just like a stepping stone. And we’re taking steps to the natty.”
Woods enrolled at Clemson in January and has generated nothing but positive buzz since, including but not limited to comparison to Lawrence and Wilkins, two other five-star defensive tackle recruits who won national championships with the Tigers and are now NFL starters.
Swinney joked in March that Woods had no weaknesses — “None,” he emphasized — and Woods backed up that talk in the spring game with seven total tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss and a blocked extra point while working primarily against the first-team offensive line.
In other words, there’s a reason he left high school ranking as the No. 33 national recruit in the 247Sports Composite and sitting even higher on lists by Rivals (No. 15) and ESPN (No. 9).
He’s 6-foot-2 and 300 pounds, the winner of four consecutive state titles in Alabama’s highest classification and a do-it-all defensive lineman talented enough to steal snaps within position groups loaded with depth and experience (see: Tyler Davis, Ruke Orhorhoro, Xavier Thomas).
The only major learning curve for Woods has been realizing he can’t carry his defense single-handedly like he did at times in high school. For someone who recorded 90 tackles, 23 tackles for loss and eight sacks as a senior at Thompson while facing double teams most of the 12-game season, that’s been an adjustment — but, of course, a good problem to have.
“You watch his Hudl tape, he just runs through people,” Eason said. “But at the end of the day, we have some other dudes on the field around him now. It’s kind of crazy. … You’re trying to tell the guy, ‘Hey, you don’t have to make every play in the defense. When you’re telling a guy that, that means you got a really good football player.”
Peter Woods can play ‘anywhere’
Assisting Woods in his Clemson transition are Davis and Orhorhoro, who enter 2023 boasting a combined 84 games, 57 starts, 43.5 tackles for loss and 22.5 sacks. Both veteran defensive tackles were likely Day 2 NFL Draft picks before opting to use their “COVID year.”
“I can’t even say how much I’ve learned from them,” Woods said. “Just being a young guy coming in and (them) bringing me along, teaching me things they may have even learned later in their careers, speaks so much to their humility. … I see them as my big brothers, and I just appreciate them for taking me under their wing.”
Woods took the majority of his spring game snaps as a defensive tackle, his primary position, but that won’t be the only spot where he’ll line up in 2023.
Clemson coaches have spoken openly about using Woods at defensive end, where the Tigers have two clear starters in sixth-year seniors Thomas and Justin Mascoll but a host of unproven players behind them.
Woods, as such, described his role as “anywhere I can help.” It’s all pending a strong performance in fall camp, which is his main focus right now with the season opener at Duke on Labor Day just over 40 days away.
“I love my versatility,” Woods said. “That’s something I pride myself in. I feel like I can play any position across the line, so why not do it? Given this talent that we have in my room, it might be convenient, it might not. … But I’m excited to see how that goes.”
He’s not the only one.
This story was originally published July 25, 2023 at 7:00 AM.
