Five Clemson Tigers Selected in ESPN's Latest Two-Round Mock Draft

It’s NFL mock draft season, and a few former Clemson Tigers will look to see where their name falls to prepare for the event in late April.

ESPN’s NFL Draft analyst Matt Miller returned from this past weekend’s offseason games of the Senior and Shrine Bowl to reveal his two-round NFL mock draft for 2026. Five Clemson players are mentioned within a 23-pick span.

After a standout Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, last week, defensive end T.J. Parker is who Miller believes will be the first Tiger called in this year’s draft. He would end up going to the Dallas Cowboys with the No. 20 overall pick. This pick comes from the Micah Parsons trade, and Dallas would end up bringing in another player with that upside.

Parker used the Senior Bowl to level up his draft stock to what it was before the season began. Miller believes that it would exactly happen like that.

“But the Senior Bowl reminded us of Parker's ability to win by locking out blockers with his long arms,” Miller said, “That is a powerful trait in both the pass rush and run defense.”

Right after him at No. 21 is cornerback Avieon Terrell, who would be going to the Pittsburgh Steelers to aid their secondary, especially with free agency pending in upcoming weeks.

Miller calls Terrell “ultra-athletic,” saying he has all of the tools to be a “solid starter immediately.” Adding him to the Steelers' defense would only benefit new head coach Mike McCarthy, adding an All-American and First Team All-ACC honor this past season.

Offensive tackle Blake Miller rounds out the Tigers who are selected in the first round at No. 28. He would be going to the Houston Texans, looking to be another piece that can protect the offense under quarterback C.J. Stroud.

The Texans would be getting a cornerstone piece to their team as well. Miller brings 3,778 offensive snaps from Clemson, the most in program history. He started every single game that he was a part of the Tigers for as well.

Matt Miller calls the offensive tackle “good value”, also adding that scouts at the Senior Bowl were giving him “a lot of love”, which could help him go up boards even more.

13 picks later, in the second round, defensive tackle Peter Woods is selected, according to Miller. He would be going to the Cincinnati Bengals with the No. 41 overall pick, reuniting him with former Clemson linebacker Barrett Carter.

Miller believes that Woods has the opportunity to succeed at the 1- or 3-technique, saying that his pass rush is “too good to pass up” at this point in the NFL Draft. The Bengals would bring more pass rush to opposing quarterbacks with the pickup.

Lastly, right after Woods, wide receiver Antonio Williams would go at No. 42 to the New Orleans Saints. Similar to Terrell, the former Clemson standout would provide instant impact to the Saints and their offense, now led by incoming second-year quarterback Tyler Shough.

Miller says that Chris Olave would be the WR1 in the scheme, but adding in Williams into the slot “could be the No. 2 receiver the Saints need”. The two-time All-ACC selection brings over 2,300 receiving yards and 23 total touchdowns over his four-year career with the Tigers.

If there was one thing that this entire Clemson group brings to the table at the draft, it would be upside. Miller brings some great fits for all of these players, although there is plenty of more time before any of them will hear their names called going into next season.

However, there is a takeaway: a few Tigers are rising.