Search Shop
Announce
Open Search

Football

Apr 26, 2025

Clemson 2025 NFL Draft Central

Clemson Football • 2025 NFL Draft
LB Barrett Carter • Round 4, No. 119 Overall (Cincinnati Bengals)
Clemson Football • 2025 NFL Draft
S R.J. Mickens • Round 6, No. 214 Overall (Los Angeles Chargers)
Clemson Football • 2025 NFL Draft
RB Phil Mafah • Round 7, No. 239 Overall (Dallas Cowboys)
Barrett Carter Gallery Item
R.J. Mickens Gallery Item
Phil Mafah Gallery Item

Trio of Tigers Selected on Day 3 of 2025 NFL Draft​

CLEMSON, S.C. — Three Clemson Tigers earned selections in the 2025 NFL Draft on Saturday. The Cincinnati Bengals selected linebacker Barrett Carter, the Los Angeles Chargers added safety R.J. Mickens and the Dallas Cowboys picked running back Phil Mafah.

T​he Bengals selected Carter in the fourth round with the No. 119 overall pick. His selection marked the fourth consecutive year that Clemson has had a linebacker drafted, tied with Alabama for the nation’s longest active streak. ​

Carter played 52 career games with 40 starts for Clemson, collecting 254 tackles (31.5 for loss), 12.5 sacks, 24 pass breakups, three interceptions, two forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. He was a two-time All-America and All-ACC honoree, and his 2,482 career snaps represent the most by a Clemson linebacker on record. As a senior last season, he earned first-team All-ACC accolades and was named as the seventh Butkus Award finalist in school history.

T​he Chargers selected Mickens in the sixth round with the No. 214 overall pick. With the selection, Clemson has now had at least one defensive back selected in 13 of its 17 drafts in Dabo Swinney’s head coaching tenure.

Mickens played 60 career games with 30 starts at Clemson across the 2020-24 seasons. Last season, he finished third on the team with a career-high 85 tackles (including a career-high 6.0 tackles for loss) and added seven pass breakups and two interceptions while starting all 13 games in which he appeared.

The Cowboys secured Mafah in the seventh round with the No. 239 overall pick. ​Including the selection of Will Shipley by the Philadelphia Eagles a year ago, Clemson has now had a running back selected in consecutive drafts for the first time since the 2016 and 2017 NFL Drafts.

Mafah finished his collegiate career with 561 rushing attempts for 2,887 yards and 28 touchdowns as well as 58 receptions for 309 yards in 1,687 career snaps over 50 games (21 starts) from 2021-24. He exited Clemson ranked ninth in school history in career rushing yards and tied for 10th in career rushing touchdowns.

Clemson has now had at least one player selected in 23 consecutive drafts since 2003, representing the second-longest streak in school history behind a 24-year streak across the 1951-74 NFL Drafts. Clemson has had multiple selections in every draft of that 23-year streak and is one of only six schools to have produced multiple draft picks in each of the last 23 NFL Drafts alongside LSU, Michigan, Oklahoma, Ohio State and USC.

Full draft notes and comments from Clemson coaches are included below.

On Barrett Carter:

HEAD COACH DABO SWINNEY: “Barrett Carter, he is the epitome of a Clemson Man, first of all. He’s a team captain, he’s a graduate. He is a Swiss army knife. He can really do a lot of things as a football player. I think he has multi-position value, is certainly a core special teams guy right out of the gate, and an incredible personality for the locker room. He’s a guy that just brightens every room that he walks into. And I have zero doubt that he’s going to have a heck of a rookie year.”

POSITION COACH BEN BOULWARE: “Barrett is a student of the game and super eager. His eagerness was one of the things I noticed when I returned to Clemson. He obviously was a very advanced product when I got here, but despite being near the end of his college career, he was still eager to ask questions like he was a freshman. He acted like a senior from a maturity and communication standpoint, but he never lost that eagerness to learn and to be a student of the game. He tapped into the resources that we had, and that’s on top of him being an incredible athlete. He’s a 4.5 guy who is super versatile. He’s a three-down ‘backer who can play all the positions, including playing in the box, or playing the nickel, which is one of the most sought-after positions in the game right now. High football IQ, but his biggest intangibles are his eagerness and willingness to learn on top of being an experienced football player.”

On R.J. Mickens:

HEAD COACH DABO SWINNEY: “R.J. Mickens was probably one of the more underrated guys coming out this year. He was a captain and a graduate. Obviously he’s a guy that has a great background. His father played about 11 years in the NFL. I think R.J. is a guy that truly, the last couple years, handled himself like a pro. He took a pro perspective to it as far as how he went about his business and training and nutrition, and just really an all-in commitment to be the best version of himself. It’s been awesome to see his development. I mean, he’s leaving Clemson as a very refined player. He’s faster than people think. He’s got a 41-plus-inch vertical and he’s a very smart football player. He’s got multi-position ability, can play three different spots. He’s a high football IQ guy, good tackler, high special teams value. And I just think he has a chance to help a team early because he’s just incredibly intelligent and he’s got attributes. He has really good length, and he’s a guy that’s going to do what he’s supposed to do every single day. I’m excited because I think that he’ll have an opportunity to make the team and be an active roster guy.”

DEFENSIVE PASS GAME COORDINATOR/CO-SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR/SAFETIES COACH​ MICKEY CONN: “With R.J., they’re getting someone who is going to come in ready to play because — other than guys who have played in that defense before — he’s going to understand the defense better than anyone. He’s going to be smart. It’s going to translate with him easily. And what he’s done athletically at the combine, he’s shown everybody that he can run and jump. He’s got great length to make plays on the football. I think they’re getting an impact player.”

ON PHIL MAFAH:

HEAD COACH DABO SWINNEY: “Phil Mafah was one of our captains, and he’s a guy who has gotten better and better every single year and really became just a dominant player for us. I mean, he was a 1,000-yard rusher. He’s a team guy. He’s a very soft-spoken young man with one of the sweetest spirits you’ll ever encounter, but, man, is he a physical, violent football player. He’s 230-plus pounds, but he’s light on his feet. He’s got great vision. I think he can be a three-down player. He can be effective in the passing game as well. I think his best football is still ahead of him. He’s got a lot of tread left on his tires, but the thing that I would say about him is his toughness. I mean, this is a guy that has played hurt, and, you know, he’s just a guy that’s always available, and that’s hard to find when it comes to that running back position. He’s a guy that everybody in the organization is going to absolutely love from the first time they meet him, and then just getting to do life with him every day. He’s just a special person, and I think they’re getting a real stud in Phil Mafah.”

OFFENSIVE RUN GAME COORDINATOR/RUNNING BACKS COACH C.J. SPILLER: “They are getting an awesome, awesome, awesome person and just an unbelievable football player. He is someone that is going to be a pro on a daily basis. He is someone that will be heavily involved in the community. He is going to make the whole organization better with each and every person he comes in contact with and the way he carries himself, his high character and who he is. I’m so thrilled for him and his family for this new journey.”

DRAFT NOTES

CLEMSON DRAFT NOTES:
– Clemson has now had at least one player selected in 23 consecutive drafts since 2003, representing the second-longest streak in school history behind a 24-year streak across the 1951-74 NFL Drafts.
– Clemson is one of only six schools to have produced multiple draft picks in each of the last 23 NFL Drafts (LSU, Michigan, Oklahoma, Ohio State and USC).
– Clemson has now had at least three selections in 16 of its 17 drafts since Dabo Swinney was elevated to head coach. Clemson is one of six schools to have produced three or more picks at least 16 times in that span alongside Alabama, LSU, Ohio State, Oklahoma and USC.
– Including two defensive picks this year, Clemson has now produced multiple defensive draft picks in 14 of the 17 drafts of the Dabo Swinney era. Clemson, LSU, Alabama, Ohio State and Georgia are the only programs to produce multiple draft picks from their defenses in at least 14 drafts in that span.
– Clemson has had at least one player chosen by 30 of the 32 NFL franchises since 2003. The lone exceptions in that time frame are the Patriots, who last selected a Tiger in 1991, and the Panthers, who have never selected a Clemson player despite playing their first season in franchise history in Death Valley.
– Head Coach Dabo Swinney has produced a draft pick for 28 of the 32 NFL teams in his head coaching tenure; the only NFL teams not to select a Clemson player in Swinney’s head coaching tenure are the Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos, New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers.
– Though Clemson did not have a player selected in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, Clemson has had at least one first-round draft choice in 10 of the last 13 years, standing alongside Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Ohio State as the only programs to produce a first-round pick in at least 10 of the last 13 years.
– Since 2013, Clemson has produced first-round picks from the QB, RB, WR, DE, DT, LB and DB position groups. The only other school with at least one first-rounder at all those positions in that span is Alabama.

NOTES ON THE SELECTION OF BARRETT CARTER:
– Carter became the 84th NFL Draft selection in Dabo Swinney’s head coaching tenure and the 16th fourth-round pick of his tenure.
– Carter became the Bengals’ seventh all-time selection from Clemson, joining TE Jim Riggs (1987), DT Donald Broomfield (1999), DT Brandon Thompson (2012), WR Tee Higgins (2020), OL Jackson Carman (2021) and Myles Murphy (2023).
– Carter became the first Clemson player ever to be selected with the No. 119 overall pick.
– Carter became the ninth off-ball linebacker drafted from Clemson since the 2015 NFL Draft. Carter joined Stephone Anthony (2015), Tony Steward (2015), B.J. Goodson (2016), Dorian O’Daniel (2018), Isaiah Simmons (2020), Baylon Spector (2022), Trenton Simpson (2023) and Jeremiah Trotter Jr. (2024) in that group.
– Carter’s selection represents the fourth consecutive draft in which Clemson has had a linebacker selected. Clemson and Alabama are the only programs in the nation to produce at least one linebacker in each of the last four NFL Drafts.
– Carter’s selection marked the third time under Dabo Swinney and seventh time in the Common Draft era (since 1967) that a linebacker has been Clemson’s first selection of a draft. He was the first linebacker to be Clemson’s first pick in a draft since Isaiah Simmons was selected No. 8 overall in 2020.
– Carter became the 25th member of Clemson’s front seven to be drafted since the 2015 NFL Draft.
– Carter’s selection marked the ninth time in the last 11 years that a defensive player was Clemson’s first selection in a draft. The two exceptions in that span came in 2017 (WR Mike Williams at No. 7) and 2021 (QB Trevor Lawrence at No. 1). Clemson’s defense has now produced the program’s first pick of an NFL Draft 18 times since the turn of the century and in 12 of the 17 drafts of Dabo Swinney’s tenure.
– The selection of Carter — a Suwanee, Ga. native — marked the fifth consecutive year that Clemson’s first selection in an NFL Draft hailed from the state of Georgia (Cartersville’s Trevor Lawrence in 2021, Dacula’s Andrew Booth Jr. in 2022, Marietta’s Myles Murphy in 2023 and Atlanta’s Nate Wiggins in 2024).

NOTES ON THE SELECTION OF R.J. MICKENS:
– Mickens became the 85th NFL Draft selection in Dabo Swinney’s head coaching tenure and the ninth sixth-round pick of his tenure.
– Mickens became the 11th Clemson player selected by the Chargers in an NFL Draft, joining DB Hollis Hall (1982), C Curtis Whitley (1992), LB Patrick Sapp (1996), DE Adrian Dingle (1999), FS Robert Carswell (2001), QB Charlie Whitehurst (2006), LB Anthony Waters (2007), CB Marcus Gilchrist (2011), WR Mike Williams (2017) and OL Jordan McFadden (2023).
– Mickens became the first Clemson player ever to be selected with the No. 214 overall pick.
– Mickens became the 42nd Clemson defensive back drafted in the Common Draft era (since 1967) and the 19th defensive back drafted in Dabo Swinney’s head coaching tenure. He became the eighth Clemson safety drafted under Swinney.
– With Mickens’ selection, Clemson has had at least one defensive back selected in 13 of Clemson’s 17 drafts in the Dabo Swinney era.
– Mickens’ selection marked the second straight draft in which an NFL legacy has been selected from Clemson’s defense. Mickens’ father Ray played 11 NFL seasons. Last year, the Philadelphia Eagles selected Clemson’s Jeremiah Trotter Jr., the son of former Pro Bowler Jeremiah Trotter Sr.

NOTES ON THE SELECTION OF PHIL MAFAH:
– Mafah became the 86th NFL Draft selection in Dabo Swinney’s head coaching tenure and the seventh seventh-round pick of his tenure.
– Mafah became the eighth Clemson player selected by the Cowboys all-time, joining QB Lowndes Shingler (1961), DB Charlie Waters (1970), T Ivan Southerland (1970), RB Lester Brown (1980), RB Chuck McSwain (1983), WR Keith Jennings (1989) and S Michael Hamlin (2009).
– Mafah became the first Clemson player ever to be selected with the No. 239 overall pick.
– Mafah became the 19th Clemson running back selected in the Common Draft era (since 1967).
– Mafah joined James Davis (2009), C.J. Spiller (2010), Jamie Harper (2011), Andre Ellington (2013), Zac Brooks (2016), Wayne Gallman (2017), Travis Etienne (2021) and Will Shipley (2024) to become the ninth Clemson running back selected in the Dabo Swinney era.
– Clemson has now had a running back selected in consecutive drafts for the first time since the 2016 and 2017 NFL Drafts. The Philadelphia Eagles selected Mafah’s former roommate, RB Will Shipley, in the 2024 NFL Draft.

#ICYMI

2025 NFL DRAFT DETAILS

WHAT: 90th Annual National Football League Player Selection Meeting

WHERE: Green Bay, Wisc.

WHEN: 8 p.m. ET on Thursday, April 24 (Round 1); 7 p.m. ET on Friday, April 25 (Rounds 2-3); Noon ET on Saturday, April 26 (Rounds 4-7)

TIMING: Round 1: 10 minutes per selection. Round 2: Seven minutes per selection. Rounds 3 through 6, including compensatory picks: Five minutes per selection. Round 7, including compensatory picks: Four minutes per selection.

TV & RADIO: The 2025 NFL Draft will be televised nationally by NFL Network, ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes, and can be heard nationwide on Westwood One Radio, SiriusXM NFL Radio and ESPN Radio.

CLEMSON PROSPECTS: All Clemson draft prospects are expected to watch the 2025 NFL Draft from private watch parties in their respective locations.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Click here

share