The Clemson flavor was already strong for one NFL franchise heading into last week. It became even more rich during the draft.

When the Cincinnati Bengals selected Myles Murphy with the 28th overall pick, it was the first time the team had drafted a defensive lineman in the first round since taking former All-Pro Justin Smith fourth overall in the 2001 draft. But drafting a Clemson player has turned into a regular occurrence for the franchise of late.

Murphy was the third former Clemson player drafted by the Bengals since 2020, joining receiver Tee Higgins (second round, 2020) and offensive lineman Jackson Carman (second round, 2021). After Murphy’s selection, Bengals coach Zac Taylor mentioned a winning pedigree at Clemson that makes the program’s prospects appealing.

“He went to a place that when you sign up to go play at Clemson, you know you’re competing for championships and the standard’s going to be very high, and that’s our standard here as well,” Taylor said. “We want to compete for championships and we have a very high standard, and we want players that understand that and have been through it before, and we know that Myles has done that.”

Higgins and Carman are now starters for the Bengals, but the Clemson connection stretches further than those three players in Cincinnati.

Murphy is the fourth former Clemson player on the Bengals’ roster and the second to join the team’s defensive line. Defensive tackle D.J. Reader, a former two-sport athlete with the Tigers, is a starter for the Bengals up front, where he and Murphy will be coached by a former Clemson assistant.

Marion Hobby, who was Clemson’s co-defensive coordinator and defensive ends coach from 2011-16, has coached the Bengals’ defensive line since 2021. Hobby was also Clemson’s defensive line coach under former coach Tommy Bowden in 2005.

Murphy was also tutored this past season by a Clemson coach with ties to the Bengals’ organization. Defensive tackles coach Nick Eason, who doubles as the Tigers’ defensive run-game coordinator, returned to Clemson last year after coaching the Bengals’ defensive line from 2019-20.

Murphy said, from a cultural standpoint, there won’t be much of an adjustment that he has to make with his new team.

“It’s very cool. It’s very unique,” Murphy said of the Clemson flavor in Cincinnati. “Honestly the culture and the mentality at Clemson is extremely similar if not the same in Cincinnati. So really just going from one place to another, but the mentality is the same and the culture is the same. That’s great.”

Photo credit: Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer/USA TODAY Network