Nyles Pinckney Doing 'Great'
A healthy Nyles Pinckney is a great thing for the Clemson Tigers, and a very bad thing for opposing offenses.
The senior defender could’ve come out early, and he might’ve been drafted this past weekend, but an ankle injury slowed him down the stretch of last season and hurt his pro chances. A healthy final year at Clemson is going to boost his NFL stock.
Pinckney (6-1, 295) sat behind 2019 first-round draft picks Christian Wilkins and Dexter Lawrence for two seasons but he has been a solid run-stopper in the middle of the line.
Now fully healthy, head coach Dabo Swinney is excited about what he can bring to the Tiger defensive front that struggled at times last season—especially without his presence in the national championship game.
"Nyles is doing great," Swinney said. "You know, he really got released and didn't know if he would be ready for the first practice—but he was ready to go. He's like really, really good obviously very knowledgeable player.
"He knows how to play the game. And, you know, it looks like a fifth-year guy should. No health issues at all out, good to see him out there bouncing around."
Career stats: 59 tackles, 10.5 TFLs, one fumble forced, two fumble recoveries and 2 sacks in 43 games.
