Coaches say opponents will see Peter Woods all along the D-line

Woods will spend time both inside and outside this fall.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sat Jul 27 15:41:39 GMT-05:00 2024

CLEMSON – Peter Woods on the outside. Peter Woods on the inside. Opponents can expect to see Peter Woods all along the defensive front.

Woods burst onto the scene as a freshman a year ago, earning Freshman All-American honors after being credited with 27 tackles (2.5 for loss) and a forced fumble in 307 snaps over 12 games (two starts). Woods entered Clemson as ESPN’s No. 9 overall prospect for 2023 after winning four straight state titles in Alabama.

Woods played defensive tackle last season, but with the Tigers facing depth issues outside, will line up and play defensive end at times this season. Clemson’s scheme allows for that type of versatility.

“I think just kind of defensively, what we are schematically and what we do helps with that,” Eason said, “We run a multiple number of different fronts, and that's the unique thing about choosing Clemson. If you're a high school kid, man, Peter's going to line up across the line of scrimmage and we cross train all our defensive linemen to be able to play across the line. And so with Peter, and a lot of our guys, they can play inside and outside, so you can use them in multiple different ways.

“And anytime you have a player like Peter Woods who has the tools to be really, really good, you want to have a lot of versatility, and a lot of guys do, but Peter obviously helps us outside and inside, and so you'll see him line up in a number of different places as well of all of our defensive linemen. Because I want athletic d-linemen that can play across the line of scrimmage. And so that's how we'll be able to utilize him, and so that helps us, anytime you can play multiple positions.”

How much he plays outside will depend on the opponent.

“I think that's just going to be based upon opponent week to week,” Eason said. “And so he's been trained and prepared for that throughout the spring, and so I can't really just foresee what percentages of where he's going to be most of the time or not. That's going to be a kind of week-to-week thing, day-to-day. But he's not the only one. Payton Page can play outside and end as well as (Tré) Williams, and a lot of other defensive linemen that are very athletic can play inside and outside. And so it's schematically. We've just kind of created where they can move across the line of scrimmage.”

Defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin said last week that Woods entered Clemson prepared to help out at different spots along the line.

“He came in well beyond his years from a football standpoint,” Goodwin said. “Watching him in high school, he played all along the line – defensive end, tackle, so forth and so on. So just from a knowledge standpoint, he picked things up pretty fast and he gives you so much versatility, you can play him inside, play him outside, all the techniques along the line. He just has the ability to process things. One time, he may be a 5-technique, and the next play, he slides inside. It’s just his ability to process and understand the scheme. His techniques, block recognition and stuff I feel like are well beyond his years.”