Clemson Star's Plummeting NFL Draft Stock is Incredibly Strange

A month ago, Clemson Tigers defensive tackle Peter Woods was viewed as a potential top-five pick and clearly the best player at his position in the 2026 NFL Draft class.

However, things have changed rather rapidly over the last several weeks.

Woods' draft stock his dipped considerably, with many having him coming off the board in the back end of the first round.

There are even some who no longer think that Woods is even the best interior defender in the class, and Daniel Jeremiah of NFL.com is among them.

In fact, Jeremiah ranked Woods 34th on his list of the top 50 draft prospects, and while Jeremiah had a lot of good things to say about the Clemson star, he clearly isn't as high on him as many others were several weeks ago.

"He does struggle when facing down blocks, as he can get wiped down the line of scrimmage," Jeremiah wrote. "As a pass rusher, his lack of length is an issue at times. He lets blockers get into his chest and stall his charge. When he can land his hands first, he pushes the pocket. He also flashes a nasty club/rip move. Overall, Woods isn’t a steady/consistent player game in and game out, but his flashes are very intriguing."

Here's the real kicker: Jeremiah had Woods tabbed as the third-best defensive tackle available behind Texas Tech's Lee Hunter and Ohio State's Kayden McDonald.

So what exactly happened?

Yes, it's true that Woods actually had a pretty disappointing 2025 campaign, registering 30 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and a couple of sacks. But that didn't stop anyone from placing him in the top 10 (at least) of most mock drafts.

Suddenly, though, there appears to be a shift, and while Florida's Caleb Banks has become a pretty popular defensive tackle prospect, others — like Hunter — are moving up draft boards, as well.

It seems highly doubtful that Woods will fall to the second round of the draft this April, but his plummeting stock is definitely confusing.

Of course, a strong Scouting Combine later this month would do wonders for Woods and could ultimately vault him back into elite status on most boards.

We'll see where Woods ends up falling later this spring.

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