Bryan Bresee, Murphy lead seven on ESPN's top players in college football list

Bryan Bresee leads seven on ESPN list of the top-100 players in college football.

by TigerNet Staff - Wed Aug 17 09:52:29 GMT-04:00 2022

Clemson has one of the more talented rosters in college football and that was reflected in the number of players who landed in ESPN's top-100 players list.

The Tigers had seven total ranked, which is second only to Alabama (8) and tied with Georgia. No other team from the ACC has more than two (Wake Forest, UNC and NC State).

It all starts on the D-line for the Tigers with two in the top-20 with Bryan Bresee (13) and Myles Murphy (18).

"We got a glimpse of what Bresee could do as ACC Defensive Freshman of the Year in 2020, when he had 33 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and four sacks," said ESPN's writeup. "He was on his way to another big year as a sophomore, but he tore his ACL in the fourth game of the season and was out for the year. Still, he earned third-team All-ACC honors in a nod to his dominance over such a short stretch. He is back and healthy and figures to have his best year yet."

"It's possible the biggest obstacle to Murphy's dominance at defensive end is that he has to share the wealth with so many other talented linemen at Clemson. Still, Murphy is the best of the bunch, finishing last season with seven sacks, 14 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and 12 runs stopped at or behind the line of scrimmage. Murphy is a future first-round pick anchoring a line that might have two or three of them."

Fellow Clemson D-linemen Xavier Thomas (53) and Tyler Davis (63) also made the selections.

Trenton Simpson (38) and Andrew Mukuba (99) completed the defensive picks.

Tigers sophomore running back Will Shipley is the lone offensive honoree (55).

"As a true freshman last season, Shipley came in with advance hype as the No. 2 high school running back in the country. Despite missing two games in the middle of the season with a leg injury, Shipley showed his potential -- rushing for 738 yards and 11 touchdowns -- the second most by a Clemson true freshman behind Travis Etienne's 13 in 2017. His presence in the backfield in 2022 will be a huge key to Clemson's chances to turning around its fortunes on offense," said ESPN.

In non-conference play, Notre Dame has four and South Carolina has two on the list (CB Cam Smith, No. 59; QB Spencer Rattler, No. 78).

Alabama went 1-2 at the top with linebacker Will Anderson and quarterback Bryce Young. Ohio State also had two in the top-5 with QB CJ Stroud (3) and WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba (4).

Clemson had six players on the list last year, which ranked second only to Alabama (10). Eventual national champ Georgia had five.