Heading into the upcoming season, there are plenty of reasons to be excited about the Clemson Tigers.

With the expanded College Football Playoff, they have an increased chance of competing for a national championship again even if they aren’t able to win the ACC. Of course, they would prefer to assert their dominance over the conference like they had for so many years, but there is still a pathway to get in if they aren’t able to lift the trophy.

Beyond that, the stories about how Cade Klubnik is looking in camp as he heads into his second season as a starter is promising.

Dabo Swinney fully expects him to take the next step, which would give the Tigers a much better shot of returning to prominence. With offensive coordinator Garrett Riley also in his second year with Clemson, there is hope this group looks much better than how they performed in 2023-24.

The Tigers are projected to have a dominant defense once again with one of the best linebacking corps in the country and a defensive line that is full of talent.

Perhaps there is not a better player in the trenches on this roster than Peter Woods.

Brad Shepard of Bleacher Report named him the best sophomore at his position in the country, beating out Auburn’s Keldric Faulk.

“While both should have incredible careers, Woods looks like the biggest star of the bunch. And he has attacked the offseason and looks terrific this spring,” he writes.

Woods certainly has the pedigree.

Coming out of high school, he was rated as a five-star athlete and the third-best player at his position in the class of 2022 by 247Sports’ Composite Rankings.

He has played in 12 games since coming to Clemson and shown what kind of potential he has by totaling 26 tackles, 2.5 of which were for a loss, on his route to being named a Freshman All-American.

The 6-foot-2, 315-pound defensive tackle, who is starting his true sophomore season, appears to have no limits and will go on to become one of Clemson’s greatest linemen in the future.