Pro Football Focus recently unveiled its preseason top 50 college football players for the 2026 season, a list that notably omitted every Clemson Tiger.
Among the missing names are linebacker Sammy Brown, who started every game in 2025 and posted a career‑high sack total, edge rusher Will Heldt, a transfer from Purdue who led the defense in tackles for loss, and wide receivers Bryant Wesco Jr. and T.J. Moore, both of whom contributed heavily to the Tigers’ passing attack.
The scarcity of Clemson representation is underscored by the fact that only three linebackers earned a spot on the overall list, with Notre Dame’s Kyngstonn Viliamu‑Asa, Texas’s Rasheem Biles and Texas Tech’s Austin Romaine making the cut.
Similarly, the receiver corps was represented by just four players nationwide: Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith, Texas’s Cam Coleman, Rutgers’s KJ Duff and Miami’s Malachi Toney, leaving the Clemson duo absent.
A Chance to Prove the Doubters Wrong
Clemson will meet Miami on Oct. 3, a game that pits the Tigers’ overlooked talent against several of the players PFF did select, offering a concrete opportunity to silence critics.
Coach Dabo Swinney has already framed the omission as fuel for the team, promising that the upcoming matchup will be a litmus test for the program’s depth and future NFL prospects.