A star Clemson defender has been honored for his standout showing in last Saturday’s victory.

Senior defensive end Will Heldt earned Shriners Children’s East-West Bowl National Defensive Player of the Week honors for his performance against North Carolina.

Heldt certainly did his part on the defensive side of the ball to help Clemson pull off a comeback 28-20 win at home.

The 6-foot-6, 260-pounder wreaked havoc on the Tar Heels’ offense, tallying three tackles, two sacks and two tackles for loss. He made a key impact with eight total pressures in the contest.

After notching his first two-sack game as a Tiger in Clemson’s win over Georgia Southern on Sept. 12, Heldt became the first Clemson player with back-to-back games with two or more sacks since All-American Jeremiah Trotter Jr. in 2022.

Through three games this season, Heldt has posted 10 total tackles (eight solo), six tackles for loss and four sacks.

Heldt transferred to Clemson following two productive seasons at Purdue and earned third-team All-ACC honors in his first season as a Tiger in 2025, when he posted 48 tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, four pass breakups and a forced fumble over 13 games (all starts). He led Clemson in both sacks and tackles for loss while finishing fourth on the team (and first on the defensive line) in tackles.

Heldt and the Tigers return to action on Friday night against Cal at Cal Memorial Stadium (10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).