The Clemson Tigers have their third pick of the 2023 NFL Draft, as Friday night linebacker Trenton Simpson was taken 86th overall by the Baltimore Ravens. Simpson's selection represented the 23rd pick of the third round.
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The Charlotte, North Carolina native follows first-round picks (DL) Myles Murphy and (DL) Bryan Bresee who came off the board Thursday night.
Simpson becomes the 74th draft pick of the Dabo Swinney era.
Like Murphy and Bresee, Simpson also was an early draft entrant, having played at Clemson just three seasons where he worked in 37 games (27 starts).
Last fall Simpson was a Butkus Award semifinalist as well as a Lott IMPACT Trophy semifinalist after receiving third-team All-ACC honors.
Simpson closed his Clemson career with 187 tackles, 22.5 tackles for loss and 12.5 sacks, while accumulating 1,443 snaps.
Statement from Dabo Swinney:
"Trenton Simpson is the freak of the draft, I mean, he's just the guy that everybody's probably trying to figure out like, 'Where do you play him? What is he?' But I know this: The guy is 230-something pounds and runs a 4.4 and he's strong as an ox. He's one of the best young people you'll ever meet. Unbelievable passion for the game. Still a developing player.
"Like Myles Murphy and Bryan Bresee, he's an early entrant into the draft, and so they're elite talents but they're still in the progression of becoming what they are going to be, and Trenton is no different. He's a guy that is still developing as a box player, but he's elite in space. He's elite coming off the edge. He can cover. He is a physical tackler. There's just so much you can do with Trenton Simpson and I think his best football is in front of him.
"I think of it kind of like when Tee Higgins came out, and I would put Bryan Bresee, Myles Murphy and Trenton Simpson kind of all in the same category. When the coach of the Bengals called me to ask me to ask about taking Tee with the first pick of the second round, he was like, 'What are we getting?' And I said you're getting a top-15 pick with the first pick of the second round. And you look at what he's done career-wise and I would say the same thing about Trenton.
"With Trenton — and Myles and Bryan — they're great kids, they're great workers, and their best football is in front of them. And I think regardless of where they've been picked, their value is higher. Trenton's a Swiss Army knife, and it's going to be fun to watch him mature and develop and find his way. He's very similar to Isaiah Simmons in that he's just got this real dynamic skill set that will translate to the next level."
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A member of Clemson's No. 2-ranked 2020 recruiting class, Simpson was billed five stars by Rivals.com where he was tabbed the No. 11 prospect nationally overall regardless of position, the top-rated football recruit overall regardless of position in the state of North Carolina and the No. 1 outside linebacker in America.
The Mallard Creek standout was one of five five-star recruits in the Tigers' 2020 recruiting class, joining Bresee, Murphy, (RB) Demarkcus Bowman and (QB) D.J. Uiagalelei.
Murphy came off the board first Thursday as the 28th pick overall by Cincinnati while Bresee went moments later as the 29th pick overall by the New Orleans Saints.
Clemson has now had at least one player selected in the NFL Draft each year since 2003, the second-longest streak in program history.
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