A recurring theme during spring practice was the high praise that poured in for true freshman defensive lineman Peter Woods, who generated no shortage of buzz and hype with his impressive play on the field.

The praise for Woods continued Tuesday at Clemson’s media outing, with defensive tackles coach Nick Eason once again speaking highly of the highly touted former five-star prospect from Alabama.

“He’s such a great kid, and at the end of the day, he’s just been blessed with God-given talent,” Eason said. “So, God’s given him a lot of abilities that other people just don’t have. He’s given him strength, speed, quickness that other people don’t have. So, when you combine that with him as a person and who he is, it just makes it amazing. He’s going to be a natural leader for us.

“Obviously there’s areas of his game that he needs to work on, but he’s definitely going to be a really good football player for us and a great leader for us. So, just truly excited about that. But at the end of the day, no matter how great you are, there’s always room for improvement. So, is he going to be really good? Yes he is, and so are the other guys. Vic Burley, Stephiylan Green, they’re just as talented. So, I’ve been truly blessed to have an opportunity to coach them.”

Eason said he sees things in Woods that he hasn’t seen before, adding that he’s “very much advanced and ahead” of other players his age.

“He hasn’t played a down yet, but I can tell you this — he definitely has the tools to be very dominant,” Eason said. “He has tools that I haven’t seen in a guy that just turned 18 years old.”

Woods enrolled at Clemson in January after signing with the Tigers this past December as one of the nation’s top prospects in the 2023 class. He was ranked as high as the No. 4 overall prospect in his class by ESPN, which billed him as the best defender in his class regardless of position.

Woods finished his career at Thompson High (Alabaster, Ala.) with 260 tackles, 72 tackles for loss and 29.5 sacks. He shined during Clemson’s April 15 spring game when he tallied seven total tackles, including a sack and tackle for loss, and also powered his way through the line to block an extra-point attempt in the fourth quarter.

Eason was asked what the 6-foot-3, 300-plus pounder needs to work on right now.

“When you got a guy that’s 6-3, 310 pounds of muscle, you can go and make plays whenever you feel like it. You watch his Hudl tape, he just runs through people,” Eason said. “So it’s kind of crazy, you’re trying to tell a guy, ‘Hey, you don’t have to make every play in the defense.’ So, when you’re telling a guy that, that means you’ve got a really good football player that can go make plays.

“So for the most part, it’s just learning, understanding our defensive scheme and just learning our defense. But he comes out every day, he’s humble, eager to learn, always looking to improve, so that’s what’s making him great.”

The athletic and versatile Woods is capable of lining up anywhere along the defensive line, and Eason said he is being cross-trained to play multiple positions up front like others in Eason’s position group.

“I cross-train all my players to be able to play in and out, so he’ll be cross-trained just like everybody else,” Eason said. “So right now, all my players are going to be cross-trained to be able to play across the board, which makes it really exciting for me to be able to do that.”