The Senior Bowl offered a pretty definitive answer if somebody still wishes to know whether T.J. Parker should be in the first-round discussion. Yes.
And emphatically so.
Clemson’s best edge rusher wasn’t just showing up in Mobile; he was taking the week. Parker wasn’t one of the standouts at the Senior Bowl, ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller said. He was the standout.
“The overall winner of the 2026 Senior Bowl is Clemson edge rusher T.J. Parker,” Miller wrote after seeing three days of practices.
That’s just about as strong of an endorsement as you can get in a setting loaded with NFL talent. Parker led practice reps Tuesday through Thursday, regularly winning one-on-one battles against offensive tackles and reminding evaluators why he was once cast in initial mock drafts. His stock may have cooled during the 2025 season, but whatever questions persisted didn’t last the week in Mobile. The knock here had always been production.
Having posted 11 sacks in 2024, Parker ended 2025 with 5.5 — a drop that raised questions about whether he had hit the wall. But the Senior Bowl tape revealed quite a different picture. Miller cited Parker’s versatility as a pass rusher, emphasizing his refined toolbox that extended beyond raw power.
“He consistently won against every offensive tackle he was challenged by this week while showing a repertoire of moves,” Miller wrote. “Parker is a true 4-3 defensive end who can win with long arms and power at the point of attack, but this week he showed there’s more juice around the edge than formerly expected.”
In other words, Parker wasn’t just beating guys — he beat guys in a variety of ways.
NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah repeated that verdict, and he deemed Parker as one of the biggest winners of the whole week.
“No one blocked his long-arm move in Mobile,” Jeremiah wrote. “Parker has put himself in the first-round mix.” For Parker, the week also offered an opportunity to respond to the one question many NFL teams continue to ask: Why the numbers fell. His answer was straightforward — and truthful.
“I was really surrounded by a lot more talent my junior year,” Parker said in an interview with NFL Network insiders Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo. “With the focus being on me a lot gameplan-wise, it allowed them to make plays.”
That’s not deflection. It’s context. Clemson’s defensive line in 2025 was deeper and more balanced — with additions like Will Heldt and the continued emergence of Jahiem Lawson and Cade Denhoff. Offenses had to know Parker, on every snap — and whoever did, it was usually someone else who cashed in.
And when Parker did get a shot at it, he made the opportunity count.
The rest of this stretch, he was at his best, his Clemson career ending with a stellar rivalry play at South Carolina that made him ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week again for three sacks and a forced turnover. Zoom out, and Parker’s résumé speaks for itself.
Throughout three seasons at Clemson, he compiled 144 tackles, 41.5 tackles for loss, 21.5 sacks, six forced fumbles, six fumble recoveries and five pass breakups. He leaves Tigertown in the program’s top 10 all-time sacks and tied for fourth in career fumble recoveries — and with six in 2024 sets the Clemson single-season record in forced fumbles. That’s production. That’s impact. That’s NFL tape. And after a “monster week” at the Senior Bowl, it’s also first-round momentum.
T.J. Parker didn’t just help himself in Mobile — he reminded everyone exactly who he is.