CLEMSON — Tristan Leigh is confident Clemson’s offensive line will make fixable changes this year. The redshirt sophomore highlighted the impact of former Tiger linemen and daily competition on his own personal development and his unit’s improvement. 

Meeting with the media Wednesday, Leigh was asked what he has specifically gained in his mindset and abilities over the last year. The left tackle made his first career start at Duke this past Monday.

“Self-awareness,” he said. “I think, you know, coming in here and having a guy like Jordan McFadden being the starting left tackle here gave me the opportunity to learn and to look at myself and find out what I do need to do to get better.”

Leigh spoke at length about his relationship with McFadden, a veteran of five years who was drafted by the Los Angeles Chargers earlier this year. What strikes Leigh most about McFadden’s exceptionality is his consistency.

“You get the same thing from him every single day. Something that I try to harp on is getting better at one thing every single day,” Leigh said. “That’s what me and [McFadden] used to talk about, so I’m just trying to get there and build that consistency.”

As he approaches the second game of this season, Leigh is building this consistency every day in practice, both by battling elite defenders and by competing with other notable offensive tackles, such as redshirt freshman Collin Sadler.

“It’s been great competing with Colin. I think we push each other every single day,” he said. “I’m blessed to play here where you’ve got that kind of competition where you’re always gonna be on your toes because you know you have to keep progressing and getting better.”

The Tigers’ offensive line will have another chance to improve this Saturday, as No. 25 Clemson takes on Charleston Southern at 2:15 p.m. in Death Valley.