On Friday night, Clemson had its second selection of the 2024 NFL Draft when Ruke Orhorhoro was taken by the Atlanta Falcons in the second round with the 35th overall pick.
Orhorhoro’s selection follows former Clemson cornerback Nate Wiggins, who was taken in the first round (30th overall) by the Baltimore Ravens.
After Orhorhoro came off the board, NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah weighed in on the former Clemson defensive tackle and what the Falcons are getting in the 6-foot-4, 294-pounder, who turned heads with his impressive showing at the NFL Scouting Combine this spring.
“The best name in the draft, Scooby Doo. Very twitchy, very explosive,” Jeremiah said. “A 1.67 10(-yard split) time at the combine, which was the second best among interior defensive linemen. I had him a little bit lower than this because I thought there was work to be done. He is a raw player. You see those tools, the explosiveness. But just trying to get a better sense, a better feel for the game. Defeating blocks, finishing plays — those are areas that he can improve on. But when you watch him play, the explosiveness jumps off the screen.”
Orhorhoro registered 12 career sacks and earned All-ACC honors in his final season at Clemson in 2023, when he he tallied 22 tackles (8.0 for loss), a career-high 5.0 sacks and a pass breakup across 12 games (all starts).
A native of Nigeria who came to the U.S. when he was nine years old, Orhorhoro finished his Clemson career (2019-23) with 97 tackles (25.5 for loss), nine pass breakups and two fumble recoveries to go with his dozen sacks over 53 games (30 starts).
Orhorhoro became the 79th NFL Draft selection in Dabo Swinney’s head coaching tenure and the 12th second-round pick of his tenure, and analyst Joel Klatt noted that Orhorhoro will arrive in Atlanta after having been under the tutelage of Nick Eason — a veteran of 17 combined NFL seasons as a player and coach.
Orhorhoro spent two seasons playing for Eason, who took over as the Tigers’ defensive tackles coach in 2022.
“Well every quarterback in these clips is saying ‘ruh rho’ as this guy breaks through. He also has a great background in terms of who he played for,” Klatt said during NFL Network’s coverage of the draft. “Nick Eason is the defensive line coach there at Clemson. He played and coached in the NFL.”
Orhorhoro became the 21st member of Clemson’s front seven to be drafted since the 2015 NFL Draft, and the ninth Tiger defensive lineman selected in the first two rounds of a draft since the 2015 NFL Draft.
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