Clemson football: Myles Murphy is a future Top 5 pick

Clemson football is loaded with talent in 2021 on both sides of the ball and while winning a national title is never among the team goals, this Tiger roster is talented enough to run the table and win the program’s fourth national title.

When people think of Clemson football on offense over the last several years, they think elite-level quarterbacks and NFL caliber wide receivers and 2021 will be no different. Sophomore quarterback DJ Uiagalelei will be among the best in the country and no receiving group will be as talented as the one in Clemson, South Carolina.

Defensively for Clemson football is where the questions lie.

In their last two College Football Playoff games, the 2019 national title versus LSU and the 2020 Sugar Bowl against Ohio State, the Tigers’ defense was pushed all over the field and struggled to keep up in the secondary. Defensive coordinator Brent Venables is hoping to change that in 2021.

Clemson football has a very reserved star on defense that will break out in 2021.

Looking back on the 2020 college football season, Clemson football had several standouts on defense – freshman defensive tackle Bryan Bresee, linebackers James Skalski and Trenton Simpson as well as safeties Nolan Turner and Lannden Zanders – all of whom return in 2021.

However, there was a one-star freshman that had a tremendous season but didn’t receive the accolades that he should have, and that was defensive end, Myles Murphy.

Murphy has the talent and the potential to be the best defensive end to ever come through Death Valley and when you think about the guys that have come before him in the last 20 years, Gaines Adams, Vic Beasley, Shaq Lawson, and Clelin Ferrell, those are big shoes to fill.

Myles doesn’t just fill those shoes, he is busting out of the seams.

While he was named to a couple of freshman All-American teams, he only earned 22 votes by ACC media and was just an honorable mention for the All-ACC selections. Despite not starting six games in 2020, he still ended the season with 12 tackles for loss, four sacks, and three forced fumbles.

Only ACC players Jaelan Phillips, Rashad Weaver, SirVocea Dennis, and Quincy Roche finished the season with more tackles for loss than Murphy.

The Clemson football defensive line will be among the deepest and most talented in the country in 2021 with Bresee, Xavier Thomas, Tyler Davis, KL Henry, Justin Mascoll, Darnell Jeffries, Cade Denhoff, DeMonte Capehart, Ruke Orhororo, and Payton Page all available for Venables to run in and out.

Myles Murphy will stand out among all of them which will keep opposing offensive coordinators up all night. Eventually, he will be among the first five names called in the NFL draft.