CLEMSON – A lifelong dream came true for T.J. Parker on Friday night.
The former Clemson defensive end heard his named called in the 2026 NFL Draft, as the Buffalo Bills selected Parker No. 35 overall in the second round. Parker is the third former Tiger to hear his named called in the draft, which is being held in Pittsburgh, Pa.
Parker is the is the third Clemson player selected in this year’s draft, as he joins offensive tackle Blake Miller (No. 17, first round), Peter Woods (No. 29, first round).
Parker recorded 144 tackles, including 41.5 for loss in his Clemson career. Of those 41.5 tackles for loss, 21.5 were sacks. He also forced six fumbles, recovered six fumbles and broke up five passes in his 39-game career.
The Phenix City, Ala., native exited Clemson ranked 10th in career sacks and tied for fourth in career fumbles recovered. He also set the Clemson record for forced fumbles in a single season with six in 2024. He was the only player in the nation to reach both five forced fumbles and five fumble recoveries across the 2024 and ’25 seasons.
Parker’s 12.5 tackles for loss in 2023 broke Clemson’s true freshman record (12.0 by Myles Murphy in 2020) and tied for the national lead among freshmen. He followed up a Freshman All-American selection in 2023 with a strong sophomore campaign that was statistically similar to Clelin Ferrell’s Ted Hendricks Award-winning campaign in 2018.
The 6-foot-3, 260-pound defensive end posted 64 tackles, 19.5 TFLs, 11.0 sacks, plus his school-record six forced fumbles in 2024. Parker’s tackles for loss and his sacks were both the most by a Clemson player since Ferrell’s 19.5 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks in 2018.
Parker was a second-team All-American in 2024 and First-Team All-ACC for his performance. He was the only player in the nation to rank in the Top 10 nationally in forced fumbles (T-2nd), tackles for loss (5th) and sacks (9th).
The 2025 season was not as productive for Parker. He had 25 less tackles, 10 fewer tackles for loss and six fewer sacks than he had in 2024. Though the 2025 campaign did not go as expected, Parker closed it with a bang.
He was named the ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week after collecting four tackles (3.0 for loss), three sacks and a fumble recovery in the Tigers’ regular-season finale victory at South Carolina — Parker’s last game as a Clemson Tiger.
Parker’s three sacks tied Chester McGlockton (3.0 in 1990) for the most against South Carolina in Clemson history, and fittingly, he passed McGlockton (20.5 from 1989-91) for the 10th-most career sacks in Clemson history in the process.
