“Woods Would Shore Up a Panthers Defense”: Latest PFF 2026 NFL Mock Draft Has Clemson Tigers DT Peter Woods Slipping To the Carolina Panthers

Clemson Tigers defensive tackle Peter Woods has been projected to be a Top 10 pick in many 2026 NFL mock drafts. Woods is 6’3″ and weighs 315 lbs. During the 2025 season with Clemson, he recorded 30 tackles, two sacks, and one pass deflection. In the NFL these days in order for teams to win Super Bowls, defensive lines need to be effective. Woods could potentially be a blue chip player a franchise.

With the NFL season over, there is a lot of focus on the NFL Draft. It would be a surprise to see Woods fall out of the Top 10. However, one team that has probably scouted him closely because of the location of Clemson is the Carolina Panthers. They finished with an 8-9 record and won the NFC South title, but they will also have the 19th overall selection in the 2026 NFL Draft.

PFF Has the Carolina Panthers Selecting DT Peter Woods 19th Overall In Latest 2026 NFL Mock Draft

Profootballfocus.com writer Max Chadwick created his latest 2026 NFL Mock Draft. Woods in many mock drafts has been projected to go into the Top 10. However, for some reason here, Chadwick has him slipping all the way to number 19 to Carolina. It would be a steal of a selection for the Panthers he fell that far. He said,

“Woods would shore up a Panthers defense that placed in the bottom 10 in both team PFF run-defense grade and team PFF pass-rush grade in 2025. He earned an impressive 87.1 career PFF overall grade and would form a powerful partnership withDerrick Brownin the middle of Carolina’s defensive line.”

Carolina was definitely hit or miss on defense during the 2025 NFL season. Adding Woods to this defense would make the defensive line even stronger. They also need other parts to fix on defense. The Panthers need to fix its defense this offseason to potentially get back to the playoffs once again in 2026. The defense let them down in the wild card game against the Los Angeles Rams.

Woods is probably going to land in the Top 10-15 in the NFL Draft. It would be a shock if he was still on the board at 19. If the Panthers are going to get him, the odds are that they may need to trade up for him also.

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