Former A&M defensive coordinator Elijah Robinson recalled Stewart watching day-off film as his own worst critic. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said Carter brightens every room.
“The epitome of a Clemson Man, first of all,” Swinney said of Carter. “He’s a team captain, he’s a graduate. He is a Swiss army knife. He can really do a lot of things as a football player. I think he has multi-position value.”
While Carter got the award for best representing himself, his teammates and Clemson in the media, Brooks interned in the Tech sports communications department.
Knight persevered through three schools, six years and a switch from quarterback to linebacker, all the while making decisions based on his family of wife and two children. Fairchild is a two-time undefeated heavyweight high school state wrestling champion in Georgia. Rivers won a Florida high school state championship in the shotput.
Both offensive linemen passed Peters’ stringent requirement for being able to protect Burrow in the passing game, underlining the 6-6, 319-pound Rivers’ quick feet and nearly 35-inch arm length.
“Dylan’s best days are ahead of him,” Peters said. “His mindset, football character, and physical traits, in many ways, are better than some of the guys that went before him in the draft.”
Taylor agreed that it did feel kind of like 2020. Without the Zooms.
“Very much so, where you’re really crossing your fingers for a lot of picks (in a row),” Taylor said. “Waiting for Logan (Wilson) and Akeem (Davis-Gaither) in 2020. And now, we get these two guys in Demetrius and Barrett, that I feel like will impact us, and we’re excited about that.”
Knight and Carter are the first backers drafted since that ’20 draft, when Golden was the linebackers coach and they took Wilson, Davis-Gaither and Markus Bailiey with the first picks in the third, fourth and seventh rounds, respectively.
Wilson is the only one left. They began re-making the room in free agency last month with the signing of eight-year vet Oren Burks. Now Knight and Carter are here, and Hodges sees two kids who are going to be here awhile.
They’re a little bit different. Knight flashes on and of the ball while Carter is stout stacked in the box. But his instincts allow him to roam. Hodges says he’s got a shot to play a lot right now.
“A true MIKE backer, and his makeup is really clean. He comes in here at the front of the room as a learner,” Hodges said. “He’s been a really productive player for a good team for a long time. The character is 100 percent. The player himself is a well-rounded inside linebacker who is going to have a long career.”
The six already had great collegiate careers. The Bengals think that bodes well for an encore at the next level.
“They made huge impacts at the programs that they were at,” Taylor said. “And by huge impact, I mean not only on the field, but the way that people talked about them off the field. You could feel the impacts they made there. That means something to us.”