Tigers in the 2023 NFL Draft: Breaking down where they stand

Trenton Simpson joins Myles Murphy as Tigers officially declared for the NFL draft.

by Ariana Pensy - Correspondent - Sat Dec 17 12:32:03 GMT-04:00 2022

After a successful season with an 11-2 record that will conclude with the Orange Bowl on December 30 (8 p.m./ESPN), the Tigers have a number of players that have great potential in the NFL and even some first-round prospects in a draft with only 31 1st round picks instead of the normal 32 (the Miami Dolphins forfeited their pick).

According to NFL Draft Buzz, which ranks every player based on a variety of statistical categories, Clemson currently has 12 players that are among the top 500 players in the country that have the potential to get drafted in April. The top prospect among these 13 is junior defensive end Myles Murphy, who recently chose to opt-out of the bowl game to prepare for the NFL Draft. Murphy is ranked by NFL Draft Buzz as the No. 6 overall player in the draft and No. 2 among edge rushers; Will Anderson from Alabama is the only edge rusher that ranks higher. He is projected to get drafted in the top-10 of the draft.

Another thing that works in Murphy’s favor, as well as many other players for the Tigers, is that there are many teams in need of players on the defensive line. Per NFL Mock Draft Database, all 32 teams, with the exception of the Washington Commanders, are in need of an edge rusher. For six teams, that is their greatest need. This also serves to work in the favor of defensive tackle Bryan Bresee. While Bresee is not an edge rusher like Murphy, NFL teams are still greatly in need of interior defensive linemen. Bresee ranks No. 2 in defensive linemen, only behind Jalen Carter from Georgia. However, for teams that value speed, Bresee does have the advantage over Carter as he ran the 40-yard dash .19 seconds faster than Carter. Some mock drafts have Bresee being drafted in the top-10, such as Josh Edwards of CBS who has Bresee getting drafted No. 7 overall with the Jacksonville Jaguars, who also drafted quarterback Trevor Lawrence and running back Travis Etienne in the first round back in 2020. Most mock drafts still have Bresee being drafted in the first round, even if not in the top 10.

Linebacker Trenton Simpson is also projected to get drafted in the first or second round of the draft. NFL Draft Buzz has him ranked No. 14 overall, and second among linebackers in the country, only behind Will Anderson. However, like Bresee compared to Carter, Simpson has the speed advantage versus Anderson, running the 40-yard dash .17 seconds faster. Simpson has not been projected to be drafted in the first round very often, although he is frequently projected in the second round. This may result from the fact that linebackers are not in as much need among NFL teams as edge rushers. It should be noted that Simpson has officially declared for the NFL Draft after being ruled out of the Orange Bowl due to injury.

The nine other players for Clemson that are among the top 500 in the country are, in this order, defensive end KJ Henry (98), defensive tackles Tyler Davis (126), Ruke Orhorhoro (181), and DeMonte Capehart (282), offensive lineman Jordan McFadden (298), defensive end Xavier Thomas (311), offensive lineman Walker Parks (327), and cornerbacks Malcolm Greene (356) and Sheridan Jones (494).

There are not many mock drafts for the entire draft yet, but one by Oliver Hodgkinson of Pro Football Network has a total of seven Clemson players getting drafted. In this specific projection, Bresee is drafted No. 10 overall by the Atlanta Falcons, making this a rare mock draft that has Bresee going ahead of Murphy. Murphy is drafted No. 12 overall by the Las Vegas Raiders, and Simpson is the last Tiger drafted in the first round after being drafted No. 22 overall by the New York Jets. Henry and Orhorhoro are both projected to be drafted in the second round, with Henry going to the Carolina Panthers at No. 58 overall and Orhorhoro going to the Philadelphia Eagles at No. 63 overall. Another Clemson player is not projected to get drafted until the beginning of the fourth round with the Houston Texans drafting Davis at No. 100 overall and drafting McFadden at the beginning of the fifth round at No. 132 overall. It surely seems that the NFL Draft will have a number of Clemson Tigers coming off the board.

There are a few factors in the draft, however, that remain to be seen. Not all of these players have committed to going into the draft yet, only Murphy and Simpson have, and many of them have at least one year left of eligibility, so they could return to Clemson for another year to boost their draft stock. Furthermore, since the NFL season is still ongoing, the draft order has not yet been set. Since every team has different needs, this could impact when different Clemson players are drafted.