2024 early Clemson NFL draft outlooks: ESPN projects Jeremiah Trotter Jr. to hometown team

Jeremiah Trotter Jr. is projected a return back home to Philadelphia by ESPN in an early draft outlook. Four different Tigers are mentioned across outlets as potential first round picks.

by Brandon Rink - Staff Writer - Thu May 04 09:52:06 GMT-05:00 2023

ESPN's Todd McShay released his early, early 2024 NFL draft outlook on Thursday, and he sees a homecoming.

McShay projected Tigers stud linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. to Philadelphia ($), where his dad Jeremiah Trotter was an All-Pro defender.

"Porter went to the team that drafted his dad back in 1999 (Pittsburgh) this year, so why not project Trotter to go to the team that selected his dad in 1998 next year?" McShay said. "The younger Trotter is coming off a great season and could join Nakobe Dean to fill the hole left up the middle after the departures of T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White. He has great instincts and 6-foot, 230-pound size. Trotter had 91 tackles, 6.5 sacks, 8.5 tackles for loss, seven pass breakups, two interceptions and a forced fumble last year. He does it all."

McShay also mentioned safety Andrew Mukuba as a potential late-first-round option for a contender like Buffalo.

There is no shortage of early 2024 outlooks, however:

USA TODAY has two Tigers projected late in the first round with Ruke Orhorhoro and Mukuba, at picks 30 and 31, as options for Buffalo and San Francisco.

“Some degree of change seems inevitable for the interior of Buffalo's line, as its four top players (Ed Oliver, DaQuan Jones, Jordan Phillips and Tim Settle) are all entering the final year of their contracts. The 6-4, 295-pound Orhorhoro could step in as an explosively powerful disruptor, and he likely has substantial untapped potential given that he did not start playing football until his junior year of high school,” Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz said. “Having missed out on the first round the last two drafts due to the trade up for Trey Lance in 2021, San Francisco is set to return to Day 1 action next April. The ACC defensive rookie of the year in 2021, Mukuba is looking to bounce back this year after being hampered by multiple injuries last year, and has the overall athleticism to be a versatile coverage asset for the 49ers' secondary.”

Pro Football Network did a three-round look and has Mukuba going 23rd overall, Orhorhoro (28) and Barrett Carter (32) also first-rounders, with Will Shipley early in the second round (35) and Trotter Jr. going in the third round (79).

Athlon Sports projects a lone first-round Tiger with Trotter in the top-10 (10). Pro Football Focus predicts the same draft placement for Trotter (10).

CBS Sports also picked a lone Tiger to go in next year’s first 32 picks, with Mukuba at No. 26.

The Draft Network has two Tigers in the top-15 of its rankings with Mukuba (10) and Trotter jr. (14), with Nate Wiggins (58), Xavier Thomas (134), Shipley (145), Orhorhoro (154), Tyler Davis (160), Carter (177), Tristan Leigh (183), Payton Page (201) and Beaux Collins (224) also in the mix.

Early draft projections for 2023 had Clemson with three first-round picks, and oftentimes at least two top-10 picks, with Bryan Bresee and Myles Murphy and Trenton Simpson. Murphy and Bresee went in the back end of the first round this April and Simpson was a third-round pick. In too-early 2022 projections, ESPN’s McShay had former Tiger Mike Jones Jr. as a first round pick, as well as Xavier Thomas. Jones Jr. went undrafted after his transfer to LSU this past draft and Thomas of course will play another year for the Clemson Tigers after bouts with injury.