Austin Bryant

Former defensive end at Clemson. 2018: 8.5 sacks, 14.5 tackles for loss, 42 tackles.

DE · Clemson · Sr. · #7

6′5″ · 265 lb · Pavo, GA

Detroit — drafted 2019, Rd 4, Pick 15, #117 overall

Recruiting

4★

WDE recruit

No. 204 nationally · Signed with Clemson

Statement game7 tackles · 4 TFL · 4 sacksvs Auburn (FBS) · W 14-6

Top 0.1% sacks game since 2021.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former defensive end at Clemson. 2018: 8.5 sacks, 14.5 tackles for loss, 42 tackles.

Signed as a 4-star recruit to Clemson in 2015.
Drafted round 4 by the Detroit in 2019.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Three seasons at Clemson, 19 sacks — drafted at #117 overall by Detroit.

His career

He was on the field for 3 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.

2015

Signed with Clemson4-star out of Thomas County Central

2019

Drafted by Detroitround 4, pick 117

Career arc

Recruit

★★★★

#204 national

CFB

College

Clemson

2016–2018

NFL

NFL Draft

R4 · #117

Detroit · 2019

Coaching lineage · 2016–2018

1 coach

2016–2018

Dabo Swinney

Clemson

Played his entire career under Dabo Swinney.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

DetroitEntering 8th NFL season

#117Rd 4 · Pick 15

DetroitEntering 8th NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2018 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

3 seasons under Dabo Swinney — 41-3 over that span.

2016Clemson14-1HC: Dabo Swinney · Balanced, fast tempo

2017Clemson12-2HC: Dabo Swinney · Run-leaning

2018Clemson15-0HC: Dabo Swinney · Balanced

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: sacks (99th percentile). Strength: tackles for loss (98th percentile). Concern: passes defended (19th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Sacks#25 / 2662 · 99th pct

8.5

Tackles for loss#45 / 2662 · 98th pct

14.5

QB hurries#103 / 2662 · 95th pct

Tackles#857 / 2662 · 67th pct

Solo tackles#1330 / 2662 · 48th pct

Passes defended#1661 / 2662 · 19th pct

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2018 season · 14 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home8g	2.8	1.2	0.8	0.0
Road6g	3.3	0.8	0.4	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-77g	3.3	1.3	0.7	0.0
Weeks 8+7g	2.7	0.8	0.5	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Dabo Swinney

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2018

Starter

A locked-in starting job.

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career stats

Season	Team
2018	Clemson	42	17	14.5	8.5	--	--	--
2017	Clemson	50	30	15.0	8.5	1	1	--
2016	Clemson	12	7	3.5	2.0	1	--	--
Career		104	54	33.0	19.0	2	1	--

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2018 season · 14 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	Note
Wk 1	W 48-7vs Furman	2	0	0.5	0.0	—	2 sacks
Wk 2	W 28-26@ Texas A&M	4	3	2.0	0.0	—
Wk 3	W 38-7vs Georgia Southern	3	2	2.0	2.0	—	2 sacks
Wk 4	W 49-21@ Georgia Tech	3	1	1.0	1.0	—
Wk 5	W 27-23vs Syracuse	4	1	0.5	0.0	—
Wk 6	W 63-3@ Wake Forest	1	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 8	W 41-7vs NC State	2	0	0.5	0.0	—
Wk 9	W 59-10@ Florida State	1	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 10	W 77-16vs Louisville	2	1	1.0	1.0	—
Wk 11	W 27-7@ Boston College	6	1	2.0	1.5	—	Season-high 6 tackles
Wk 12	W 35-6vs Duke	1	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 13	W 56-35vs South Carolina	2	2	2.0	1.0	—
Wk 14	W 42-10@ Pittsburgh	5	2	0.0	0.0	—
Bowl	W 30-3vs Notre Dame	6	4	3.0	2.0	—
Total		42	17	14.5	8.5	—

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology