Clemson defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro was the lone in-state player from the 2023 season to be selected in the NFL Draft on Friday night. Orhorhoro was taken by the Atlanta Falcons early in the second round with the 35th overall pick. Clemson CB Nate Wiggins was taken in the first round by Baltimore Thursday night, so this makes the tenth time Clemson has had players taken in the first and second rounds of a draft.
Orhorhoro appeared in 53 career games at Clemson from 2019-23 with 30 starts. The coaching staff credited him with 97 tackles (25.5 for loss), 12.0 sacks, nine pass breakups and two fumble recoveries in 1,526 career snaps. He posted 8.0 tackles for loss and a career-high 5.0 sacks in his redshirt senior season in 2023 to collect third-team All-ACC honors.
Two other players with connections to the state were taken on Friday. Cornerback Andru Phillips, a product of Mauldin High School who played collegiately at Kentucky, went to the Giants with the sixth pick of round three. And running back MarShawn Lloyd, who began his college career at South Carolina and finished it at Southern Cal, went to the Packers with the 25th pick in round three.
NOTES ON THE SELECTION OF RUKE ORHORHORO:
– Orhorhoro became the 79th NFL Draft selection in Dabo Swinney’s head coaching tenure and the 12th second-round pick of his tenure.
– Orhorhoro became Clemson’s eighth all-time NFL Draft selection by the Atlanta Falcons, joining DB Rod McSwain (1984), CB Reggie Pleasant (1985), RB Kenny Flowers (1987), DE Malliciah Goodman (2013), DE Vic Beasley (2015), DT Grady Jarrett (2015) and CB A.J. Terrell (2020). The Falcons also selected LB Randy Smith in the 1966 NFL Supplemental Draft.
– Each of Clemson’s last three selections by the Falcons — DE Vic Beasley, DT Grady Jarrett and CB A.J. Terrell — have earned at least one Pro Bowl or All-Pro selection.
– Orhorhoro became the second No. 35 overall pick in Clemson history, joining Joe Blalock, who was selected at No. 35 overall in the fifth round of the 1942 NFL Draft.
– Orhorhoro became the 21st member of Clemson’s front seven to be drafted since the 2015 NFL Draft. Entering the 2024 NFL Draft, Dabo Swinney ranked first among active coaches and second among all coaches — active or inactive — in front-seven draft picks produced in that span.
– Orhorhoro became the ninth Clemson defensive lineman selected in the first two rounds of a draft since the 2015 NFL Draft.
– Orhorhoro (who played his prep career in River Rouge, Mich. adjacent to Detroit) became the first Clemson player since the NFL moved away from its long-time location in New York City to be selected in a draft being held in his home metro area.
– Orhorhoro’s selection combined with the Baltimore Ravens’ selection of Nate Wiggins in the first round gave Clemson selections in both the first and second round for the 10th time in school history (1960, 1987, 1992, 1997, 1999, 2016, 2019, 2020 and 2021).
