Background
Peter Woods grew up in Alabaster, Alabama, raised by his father Jermaine, and his mother, Deven, both University of Alabama graduates. He attended Thompson High School, where he was the anchor of four consecutive Alabama Class 7A state championships from 2019 to 2022. The team went 50-5 while he recorded 260 tackles, 72 tackles for loss, and 29.5 sacks. He earned MaxPreps First-Team All-American, Alabama Player of the Year, Class 7A Lineman of the Year, and MVP of the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game honors. ESPN ranked him the No. 9 overall prospect in the 2023 class, and despite both parents' deep Tuscaloosa ties, he committed to Clemson on July 8, 2022, enrolling early in January 2023. As a true freshman, he earned Freshman All-American honors and PFF's highest-ever grade among Power 5 true freshman defensive tackles. In 2025 he was Second-Team All-American honored from AP, Phil Steele, and USA Today, the first Clemson defensive tackle named AP All-American since Christian Wilkins in 2018. Woods also became the only FBS player that season to record multiple games with both a sack and a rushing touchdown. He earned his degree in sports communication in December 2025 before declaring for the 2026 NFL Draft.
Physical Attributes
RAS:
Um... ok? Only doing a 10-yard split is very weird. It's only another 30 to get all the results, and it looks like he may have been good at it? That's a pretty good shuttle time, but everything else is surprisingly average. On tape he looks quick, fast, strong, and quite agile for a player his size. He throws blockers off of him consistently and beats them to the first punch with his quick pounce off the line.
Data and Tape Analysis
If you are unfamiliar with my DT radar charts, you can find more information here
Peter Woods came into this season as a top 5 prospect and below the radar chart comparison between 2024 and 2025 makes it obvious why.
To have that purple 2024 season as a 20 year old true sophomore in a power conference is incredible. That level of talent and production is not seen that young for nearly any DT. So then what happened, and what should we do with his ranking?
Woods is not a nose tackle, and is strictly a 3 tech DT. He is not in there to swallow double teams and make running on his defense difficult. That being said, I think he is still an effective run defender. Double teams struggle to move him of the point of attack. Woods also uses his pass rushing techniques to recognize gaps in an instant and shoots through them to disrupt plays in the backfield. He also uses the same techniques he does to free himself in pass rushing situations as he does against the run, and is so strong, it seems like he is tossing children out there.
His pass-rushing juice is where Woods will make his money. Speaking of all of those pass-rushing moves, he has nearly every inside pass-rush move in his repertoire. A cross chop, counter club, pull slide, and straight bull rush, amongst others, keep linemen on their feet. Though they are usually on their heels because of Woods' fantastic get-offs.
One of the most translatable skills I have seen from CFb to the NFL is the ability to have quick wins. Those plays where the DT is past the guard nearly the second after the ball is snapped. There is nothing more disruptive to a QB than that. Woods is excellent at that. You can guarantee he will have one to three of those a game.
Grade and Outlook
There was something in the water at Lake Hartwell last year. The team was probably the second most disappointing of last year, only behind Penn State. I do not know if the DC change, or Dabo starting to lose his grip, or whatever affected Peter Woods the way it did, but I still believe in that 24 tape, and do not think the 25 tape is as bad as some say. Woods has the potential to be a major disruptor in the passing game once he enters the league, and will do enough to be a positive run contributor as well. I am knocking him down more than I would like based on the weirdness of it all.
Grade: 6.3 (Late 1st Rounder / Early 2nd Rounder)
