Pro Football Focus this week released its preseason Top 100 Big Board for the 2023 NFL Draft, and several Clemson defenders are ranked among PFF’s top 100 prospects in next year’s draft class.
Two Tiger defensive linemen, junior defensive end Myles Murphy and redshirt sophomore tackle Bryan Bresee — both of whom were named AP preseason All-Americans this week — are in the top 10 of PFF’s preseason Big Board and ranked No. 5 and No. 6, respectively.
“Murphy is one of those “know it when you see it” kind of physical specimens,” PFF’s Michael Renner wrote. “The 6-foot-5, 275-pound defensive end is bigger, more powerful and more explosive than everyone he’s going up against. And that was true as a freshman. He’s earned a 92.2 run-defense grade for his college career.”
Added Renner of Bresee: “Bresee was the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2020 cycle, and while he hasn’t quite lived up to that lofty billing, you still see it. And by “it,” we mean the undeniable movement skills that few 6-foot-5, 300-pound men have ever been capable of. He earned an 81.2 pass-rushing grade back as a true freshman before tearing his ACL only four games into his sophomore campaign.”
Junior linebacker Trenton Simpson is the next highest-ranked Clemson defender on PFF’s preseason Big Board, coming in at No. 28.
“Simpson is one hell of an all-around athlete at 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds — so much so that he played slot for the Clemson defense last season,” Renner wrote. “He’s a Swiss Army knife that can do pretty much anything asked of him. That showed as a blitzer, a role from which Simpson racked up 31 pressures on only 90 pass-rushing snaps.”
Clemson senior defensive tackle Tyler Davis also cracked PFF’s preseason Top 100 Big Board, checking in at No. 98.
