CLEMSON — There’s a few positions with an argument for the best on Clemson’s defense, and one of those is defensive tackle. The pair of Tyler Davis and Ruke Orhorhoro elected to return for another year, and it made a defense that was already set up well for 2023 raise the expectations.

Davis is an All-American and a nightmare for opposing offenses, but he’s also helping coach up an elite freshman for this season. On the depth chart for Week 1, Peter Woods was listed as an ‘or starter’ so he’ll see plenty of snaps. Ahead of the opener, Davis talked about how he earned this opportunity in the off-season.

”He just, he’s a dog for real. I mean, he’ll go out there, he’s big, he’s strong, he’s fast. He’s definitely like, he’s way better than me when I was a freshman so he’s going to help us out a lot,” Davis said.

Looking back at Davis’ freshman year, that’s a high bar. In his first season as a Tiger, he was a second-team All-ACC selection with 51 tackles and 5.5 sacks.

If the five-star Woods eclipses those numbers, I’d like to apologize in advance for ACC offenses. Part of Woods’ early expectations is who he’s learning from. With Davis and Orhorhoro being seasoned veterans at Clemson, he’s taking all the information he can get from those two.

”He’s like a sponge. He listens to everything like, he always asks good questions and always tries to be the best version of himself so I love that about him,” Davis said. “It’s everything for real, definitely the mindset though. When he first came in, he just always wanted to watch extra film. He’s always wanting to get extra work after practice.”

With all the superlatives from teammates and coaches, it looks like Woods’ freshman year will be one to watch. The talk everyone is hearing can finally be seen Labor Day night, when Clemson travels to Duke for the season opener.