With the college football season kicking off soon, ESPN honored the best true freshmen in the sport heading into the 2023 campaign.
ESPN released its preseason true freshman All-America team (subscription required), and among the newcomers named to it is Clemson’s Peter Woods, who has garnered no shortage of hype and praise since arriving to Tiger Town at the beginning of this year.
The former five-star prospect from Alabama is one of four freshmen defensive linemen selected by ESPN, along with Miami’s Rueben Bain Jr., Auburn’s Keldric Faulk and Oklahoma’s Adepoju Adebawore.
Here’s what ESPN analyst Tom Luginbill had to say about Woods and why he made the preseason true freshman All-America team:
No matter how deep Clemson is up front — and the Tigers are loaded — Woods will make his mark. What makes him special is he can do what first-round draft pick Christian Wilkins did and play every spot along the front. He could get significant snaps each game while giving the rest of his linemates a break. This is the value of depth. Woods could end up more heralded than Dexter Lawrence, another Clemson first-rounder.
Woods was also recently named by ESPN as one of the top 50 newcomers in college football ahead of the 2023 season, a list including both transfers and freshmen. He ranks No. 33 overall on the list and as the No. 8 freshman.
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. The 6-foot-3, 300-plus pounder 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.
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