{"id":207472,"date":"2025-07-14T22:41:16","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T22:41:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/207472\/"},"modified":"2025-07-14T22:41:16","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T22:41:16","slug":"todd-mcshay-explains-why-peter-woods-could-be-a-rare-nfl-draft-prospect-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/207472\/","title":{"rendered":"Todd McShay explains why Peter Woods could be a ‘rare’ NFL Draft prospect"},"content":{"rendered":"

Todd McShay simply can\u2019t take his eyes off of Peter Woods<\/a> when watching Clemson film during the early preparation ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft. Even while evaluating film of elite Tigers pass rusher T.J. Parker<\/a>, Woods \u2014 also a widely-projected potential Top-5 pick \u2014 just kept popping off the screen.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s why McShay went to bat for the 315-pound junior defensive tackle during a recent debate with fellow NFL Draft analyst Steve Muech about Woods\u2019 current draft stock amid an episode evaluating multiple Clemson draft prospects last week on The McShay Show podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing I like about Woods \u2013 there\u2019s a lot of things \u2013 he legitimately can play all along the line,\u201d McShay said.<\/p>\n

Muech argued Woods is far better suited to play inside at nose tackle as opposed to being a pass rusher, but acknowledged the Clemson big man could be utilized in different ways in the NFL.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want him to play inside more, that\u2019s where he\u2019s going to make his living. That\u2019s where he\u2019s going to be great,\u201d Muech said. \u201cI want him inside, I want him to wreck havoc, and I want him to really hone that craft and get great at that.\u201d<\/p>\n

While agreeing Woods\u2019 future in the NFL will be with his hand in the ground, McShay refused the suggestion the Tigers big man is a one-dimensional player.<\/p>\n

Todd McShay: Clemson DT Peter Woods \u2018can be a terror\u2019 at multiple positions in NFL<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t disagree, I\u2019m just saying, it\u2019s interesting seeing a 315-pounder, 6-foot-3, who can be a terror as a one-technique, a three-technique and a five-technique, and actually \u2026 as a stand-up, outside edge rusher. \u2026 You don\u2019t see that often, and doing it effectively,\u201d McShay countered. \u201cAnd yeah, not refined yet, but damn good body lean, rip, slap and his feet are as quick as his hands. \u2026 I promise you, when I put on the tape of (T.J.) Parker after, \u2026 it took a little adjusting because Parker is taller, long, straight-line power. But I actually thought the 315-pounder in someways had a little bit more burst, suddenness, \u2026 short-area quickness. I thought that he had lightning quick hands, shouldn\u2019t move this well and be this sudden for his size. The body lean impressed me, feet are as quick as hands, plays his ass off too.\u201d<\/p>\n

McShay then highlighted that Woods has been protected to a certain extent at Clemson, only playing about 400 snaps, compared to more than 500 for Cleveland Browns rookie DT Mason Graham<\/a> (Michigan<\/a>) and 700-plus for New York Giants pass rusher Abdul Carter<\/a> (Penn State<\/a>), both of whom were Top 5 picks in the 2025 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n

\u201cRefinement as a three-technique, his power, hand quickness, foot quickness in the short area (trenches), and the lean he has and the flexibility he has at that size, I think make him potentially rare,\u201d McShay concluded.<\/p>\n

Muech had no argument to that point, and even conceded Woods has the skill to grow as a pass rusher, which would only solidify his standing as the best defensive line prospect in next year\u2019s NFL Draft.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wrote in my notes, there\u2019s another gear for him as a pass rusher, or another level he just hasn\u2019t reached yet,\u201d Muech said. \u201cHe will, I firmly believe that. And it won\u2019t surprise me if six months from now I sitting here and saying, \u2018Yeah, Woods did what I thought he might do,\u2019 which is move past every other defensive lineman in this draft, because he\u2019s reached that other level. I just don\u2019t see it quite yet. I don\u2019t think he\u2019s quite there yet.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Todd McShay simply can\u2019t take his eyes off of Peter Woods when watching Clemson film during the early…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207473,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[7,6,15,5806],"class_list":{"0":"post-207472","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl-draft","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-nfl","10":"tag-nfl-draft","11":"tag-peter-woods-23-thompson"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114854005032038867","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207472\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}