During his weekly Sunday teleconference, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney was asked for his evaluation of star defensive linemen Peter Woods and T.J. Parker through the first three games of this season.

“I think Peter has been pretty solid. I think he’s been pretty solid, and I think T.J. has had his moments,” Swinney said. “He’s been good, but not great, and we need him to be great.”

Swinney added that everybody in the Clemson program has room to improve – players and coaches alike – after a 1-2 start to the 2025 campaign.

“We all gotta get better,” Swinney said. “There’s nobody on our team that doesn’t need to get better, and there’s no coach that doesn’t need to get better. We’re all in it together. We’ve gotta all take it up another level.”

As for the pair of players Swinney was specifically asked about, Woods and Parker, they of course came into this season as preseason All-Americans and projected by many pundits to be top-10 picks in next year’s NFL Draft.

Parker recorded three tackles and a pass breakup in the season opener against LSU before posting four tackles (one for loss) with a sack vs. Troy. The 6-foot-3, 260-pounder then tallied four tackles at Georgia Tech this past Saturday.

Woods, meanwhile, was credited by the coaching staff with 10 tackles (0.5 for loss) vs. LSU. The 6-foot-3, 310-pounder registered three tackles and deflected a pass that was intercepted by Ashton Hampton vs. Troy, then made three tackles at Georgia Tech.

Parker followed up a freshman All-American selection in 2023 with an outstanding sophomore season in 2024. A second-team All-ACC selection, he finished the 2024 season with six forced fumbles, setting the Clemson record for forced fumbles in a single season. He also finished tied for second in the nation and tied for the national lead among power conference players in forced fumbles.

Parker also finished fifth nationally in tackles for loss (19.5) and ninth nationally in sacks (11) last season. By posting the aforementioned numbers, Parker was the only player in the nation to rank in the top 10 nationally in all three categories — forced fumbles, tackles for loss and sacks.

Woods split time between defensive tackle and defensive end as a sophomore in 2024, recording 32 tackles (8.5 for loss), 3.0 sacks and a forced fumble over 11 games (10 starts).

After coming to Clemson as ESPN’s No. 4 overall prospect for the 2023 recruiting class, Woods earned freshman All-American honors in 2023, when he tallied 27 tackles (2.5 for loss) and a forced fumble over 12 games (two starts), to go along with 10 quarterback pressures, the most of any Clemson defensive tackle.