Pro Football Focus has been releasing its preseason positional rankings ahead of the 2022 college football season, and named several current Clemson standouts among the top players at their respective positions heading into the upcoming campaign.
Junior linebacker Trenton Simpson was named the No. 3 off-ball linebacker, while junior defensive end Myles Murphy and fifth-year senior defensive end Xavier Thomas were ranked as the No. 9 and No. 10 edge defenders, respectively.
“A long battle with COVID-19 disrupted Thomas’ 2020 junior year, but he still managed to play 119 snaps in what was supposed to be a bounce-back season after a sophomore slump in 2019,” PFF’s Anthony Treash wrote. “The 2018 No. 3 overall recruit went from an 83.4 PFF grade as a freshman to a 69.8 mark the year after. Thomas got back on the right track this past season, earning a 76.7 pass-rush grade and 18.7% pass-rush win rate — 11th and fourth, respectively, among returning Power Five edge defenders. What’s most encouraging about his performance this past season is his true pass-rush grade was nearly 25 grading points higher than the last time we saw him consistently on the field in 2019.”
Fifth-year senior offensive tackle Jordan McFadden was ranked as the No. 3 offensive tackle entering 2022, and redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Bryan Bresee was ranked as the No. 2 interior defensive lineman.
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