Clemson Standout Peter Woods is About to Make Everyone Pay

Clemson Tigers defensive tackle Peter Woods was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs with the 29th overall pick of the NFL Draft on Thursday night, a steep fall for a player who was viewed as a potential top-five pick heading into 2025.

In fairness, Woods had a disappointing final season at Clemson, as he logged just 30 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks this past year.

Those aren't exactly the numbers you would expect from an elite talent.

But it's important to note that the Tigers were a massive letdown in general in 2025, as they entered the campaign with national championship aspirations only to go 7-6. So perhaps it was just contagious for Woods?

Nevertheless, the 21-year-old saw his draft stock plummet, so much so that some had him tabbed as a Day 2 selection.

The Chiefs ultimately nabbed him at the back end of the first round, and now, Woods will get to learn from a likely future Hall of Famer in Chris Jones, who has long been one of the best interior defenders in football.

Woods is about to make everyone who passed on him pay.

Say what you want about Woods' pedestrian showing in 2025, but if you watched him at all the year prior, you would know just how dominant he can be.

That player we saw two seasons ago didn't disappear into thin air; he's still there. He just needs the right situation to bring it out of him, and it's hard to imagine a better environment than Kansas City.

Woods should earn significant playing time right off the bat next season and could wreak havoc next to Jones on the interior.

The Alabaster, Al. native was the second defensive tackle off the board in this class, with Florida's Caleb Banks going ahead of him to the Minnesota Vikings at No. 18.

Banks comes with tons of questions in his own right, even more so than Woods. But the Vikings loved Banks' mammoth size and freakish athleticism so much that they ignored all of the red flags (like Banks undergoing two foot surgeries in a span of six months).

Woods, on the other hand, has been healthy, and his collegiate production was significantly better than that of Banks.

I absolutely believe that Woods will end up being one of the biggest steals of this year's draft class, and in the case of the Chiefs, the rich (well, other than 2025) just got even richer.

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