CLEMSON — Clemson’s defensive front this year has a chance to be one of its best, especially when you look at who is on it.

The Tigers went to the transfer portal and pulled out defensive end Will Heldt, who was causing havoc for offenses in the Big Ten. They are also bringing back Peter Woods in the middle, along with DeMonte Capehart and then the guy who will lead them all.

That guy is defensive end T.J. Parker.

Quietly, Parker has become one of the top defensive ends that no one talks about. However, that is about to end.

Take last year, for example. Statistically, he had similar season to Clelin Ferrell’s Ted Hendricks Award-winning campaign in 2018.

Parker led the nation in forced fumbles with six in 2024. He also had 11 sacks and 19.5 tackles for loss altogether.

The 6-foot-3, 265-pound junior tallied 57 tackles in all, including 35 that were solo tackles. But, despite those big numbers, he is relatively unknown in the college football world.

However, that should not be the case this season.

Pro Football Focus released its underclassmen to watch on Saturday, and Parker leads the way at defensive end.

“Parker is the next man up in the royal line of Clemson pass rushers,” PFF wrote. “He was a four-star recruit in the 2023 class who earned an 87.4 PFF overall grade as just a true sophomore while playing 640 snaps. Both his PFF run-defense and PFF pass-rush grades were above 80.0 in 2024.”

Woods also got mentioned as a player to watch by PFF. He is ranked No. 1 on their board at defensive tackle.

“Woods earned an 82.9 PFF overall grade last season as just a true sophomore, thanks to an 81.3 PFF run-defense grade and a 73.3 PFF pass-rush grade,” PFF wrote. “He played more than 200 snaps as a defensive tackle but also logged more than 100 snaps as a defensive end or edge defender. That makes his grades even more impressive.”

Clemson cornerback Avieon Terrell is also coming off a very good sophomore campaign and PFF thinks he will a player to watch in 2025 as well, as it pertains to the 2026 NFL Draft.

Terrell is ranked No. 2 at the cornerback position.

“Avieon Terrell is the younger brother of Atlanta Falcons cornerback A.J. Terrell. He earned a 77.4 PFF coverage grade in 2024 with two interceptions and 16 forced incompletions,” PFF wrote.

Clemson kicks off the season on Aug. 30 against LSU at Memorial Stadium in Clemson.