Clemson football: 5-star OT Tristan Leigh is exactly what Tigers needed
Five-star OT Tristan Leigh is exactly what Clemson football needed
The Clemson football program received a commitment from 5-star OT Tristan Leigh Saturday afternoon and his addition is exactly what the Tigers needed.
Clemson football fans are still licking their wounds from a disappointing effort against the Ohio State Buckeyes from a couple of nights ago and it’s clear that the loss will sting within the fan base for a little while longer, but the Leigh commitment at least came as some consolation for fans who will have to wait nearly seven months to see the Tigers take the field again.
More than that, though, Leigh’s commitment gave Clemson football exactly what it needs: More legitimate talent up-front.
If you watched this Clemson football team play this year, you know the struggles the offensive line had
We can call it scheme. We can call it execution. We can call it just getting beaten.
It doesn’t take a football wizard or an insider who has been around the game for 75 years to realize that the Tiger offensive line was a massive struggle fest.
You had the nation’s best running back in Travis Etienne and he was shut down on several occasions because the offensive line couldn’t pave a way for him. Yes, there were times where opposing defenses just had more bodies in the box or sent more pressure than what the offensive line could account for, but you can find plenty of instances on film where the group just missed their assignment or just got beat. They were knocked off the line.
That being said, Leigh is an elite talent. He’s the type of offensive lineman who you look at and understand that he’s going to be in the league someday. He’s going to make a difference.
He still has plenty of room for development and we didn’t get to see him this fall due to his senior season being moved to the spring in the state of Virginia, but the fact of the matter is that Leigh has the talent and capacity to be a first or second-round offensive tackle at the next level.
When you continue to recruit at the level that Clemson is and you continue to bring in talented guys like Leigh, Walker Parks (from last year’s class), Bryn Tucker, Ryan Linthicum, Marcus Tate, etc., you can’t help but improve up front and that’s where it all starts.
Next. Thank You, Trevor Lawrence. dark
With Leigh’s commitment, Clemson is now ranked No. 4 nationally by the 247 Sports Composite team rankings in the 2021 recruiting class.