The 2023 recruiting class for Clemson was a strong one, and all the talk heading into the fall has been the defensive linemen entering the program. The Tigers welcomed five defensive linemen into the program: Vic Burley, Peter Woods, Stephiylan Green, AJ Hoffler and David Ojiegbe.

Now that Clemson is into the swing of fall camp, all the veterans have had ample time throughout the offseason to see these new additions and how they’re fitting into the program. Defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro was impressed by how quickly the newcomers are adjusting, and he said after practice Tuesday that they are way ahead of him when he was a freshman.

“All of them surprised me honestly. Vic, Steph and Peter, they’re tremendously ahead of where I was and where TD was when we first came in,” Orhorhoro said. “They do things that me and TD didn’t start doing till our sophomore, junior year and so, seeing them come in already that advanced and having a coach like Nick Eason to back them, it’s scary to see what they’ll be in the next two, three years.”

Being ahead of both Orhorhoro and All-American Tyler Davis at this time is a great sign for these freshmen, and we even saw it in the spring game for Woods, who caught the eyes of many with multiple big tackles on the day.

Orhorhoro elaborated on what makes this group special and why they’ll make an impact early and often as Tigers. Woods’ early impression even made the graduate senior laugh when talking about his strength.

“Just the physicality. Peter, he’s coming in how old is he? 17-18. He’s coming in benching 475. That’s unheard of and you know, he’s benching 475 as an 18-year-old,” Orhorhoro said. “Imagine when he turns to 20-21, especially with a strength coach like Dennis Love…just their strength, their footwork, and their knowledge of the game. It took me about a year to pick up the playbook because we had a big playbook, Peter picked it up in a couple weeks. Stephiylan picked it up in a couple weeks and so did Vic. And so, their knowledge of the game, it’s just things that me and TD had to learn a long way.”

With the trajectory of this young group, Nick Eason will be spoiled for the next few years and we may see these freshmen take the field often in 2023.