This week, Pro Football Focus lead draft analyst Mike Renner unveiled the first PFF Big Board for the 2023 NFL Draft and has two Clemson defensive linemen among the top six players on the Big Board.
Clemson junior defensive end Myles Murphy is ranked as the No. 5 overall player on the Big Board behind Alabama quarterback Bryce Young, Alabama edge defender Will Anderson Jr., Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud and Georgia interior defensive lineman Jalen Carter, in that order.
A former Top 5 national recruit who made an instant impact for the Tigers, earning Freshman All-America honors from several outlets in 2020 and earning a fourth-team All-American selection from Phil Steele in 2021, Murphy enters 2022 credited with 94 tackles (26.0 for loss), 11.0 sacks, five forced fumbles and three pass breakups in 963 snaps over 25 games (16 starts).
“Murphy is one of those “know it when you see it” kind of physical specimens,” Renner wrote. “The 6-foot-5, 275-pound defensive end is bigger, more powerful and more explosive than everyone he’s going up against. And that was true as a freshman. He’s earned a 92.2 run-defense grade for his career.”
Renner has Clemson redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Bryan Bresee ranked one spot below Murphy at No. 6 on the PFF Big Board.
Bresee was a third-team all-ACC selection last year despite missing most of the season with a torn ACL. The nation’s former No. 1 overall recruit, the 6-foot-5. 300-pound Bresee has 35 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks in 16 career games.
“Bresee was the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2020 cycle, and while he hasn’t quite lived up to that lofty billing, you still see it,” Renner wrote. “And by “it,” I mean the undeniable movement skills that few 6-foot-5, 300-pound men have ever been capable of. He earned an 81.2 pass-rushing grade back as a true freshman before tearing his ACL only four games into his sophomore campaign.”
Renner also has Trenton Simpson ranked in the top 30 on the Big Board, with the Tigers’ junior linebacker checking in at No. 28.
Simpson had 64 tackles last season and finished second on the team in tackles for loss (12) and sacks (6). Simpson, who’s making the move to weak-side ‘backer, has 92 tackles through his first two seasons with the Tigers.
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