Tristan Leigh recalls walking the hallways at Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax, Virginia, looking at a plaque inside the school’s hall of fame. It belonged to Jordan Stanton, a former James Madison University defensive end who signed with the New York Giants as a free agent in 2014.
Seeing the plaque gave him hope, Leigh said, that he, too, could play in the NFL one day.
“I look at it every single day,” he told WTOP. “Like, ‘you can do that from my high school.’ I took pride in that, and every day, that was a reminder for me that you can do this here.”
Hundreds of college football players like Leigh are hoping to start their professional football dreams by being selected during the 2026 NFL draft in Pittsburgh. After a decorative high school and college football career, Leigh said he is ready to take that next step forward in making a childhood dream into reality.
Standing at 6 feet, 6 inches tall and weighing 310 pounds, Leigh is projected to be selected on the third day of the draft in the later rounds. Leigh is coming off five seasons playing at Clemson on its offensive line, playing 2,202 offensive snaps over 42 career games.
Since the end of the 2025 season, he said he has been keeping up with his fitness and participated in the East-West Shrine Bowl to get his name out to NFL teams. He has met with multiple teams, including the Titans and Chiefs, and spoke to them “from the heart” about his desire to play in the NFL.
“I want an opportunity to go showcase my ability and my love for the game,” he said.
‘Getting to work’
Leigh fell in love with the sport at an early age. His father, Stan Leigh, played running back at Virginia in the early 1990s and would share stories to a young Tristan about “knocking a dude out” while playing in high school. While Tristan played other sports, including soccer, basketball and swimming, he could not play tackle football until he was in the seventh grade.
He hit a growth spurt at the start of high school, making him the perfect size for a lineman, said Scott Vossler, who coached the football program at the time.
“Despite having size early, he had good feet,” Vossler told WTOP. “He was sudden, like he could hang and play basketball out there with kids that were pretty good. That athleticism really stuck out for us for a kid that was really, really big.”
Another standout quality, Vossler said, was Leigh’s team-first attitude, which helped the Rams average 380 rushing yards a game one year. Leigh loved opening holes for the Rams offense to easily move down the field and score with ease.
“I take pride in doing the hard work and grabbing that hard hat and getting to work,” Leigh said about playing offensive line. “You get to create opportunity for other people, and you have opportunity to bring joy to other people, and you get to do it in a nasty, physical, fun way.”
Leigh finished his time at Robinson as a five-star recruit and as a school ambassador, Vossler said.
“I thought that made it real easy for us as teachers and coaches to point at him and be like, ‘Guys, this is what it looks like. This is this is the work ethic, this is the behavior, this is the personality that we want out of all of you,’” Vossler said. “It was coming from our most highly decorated player.”
Preparing for the draft
Since his pro day, Leigh told WTOP he has been focused on training and preparing for when his name is called. He plans to be with his family and agent in Florida to watch the draft.
If his name is called, they will celebrate, but it will be time to “get back to work” and prepare for rookie camp, Leigh said.
“Wherever you know that I end up, or anything like that, I want them to see early on that they made the right decision in picking me,” Leigh said. “They’re going to get back on that investment. I want to be that guy every day.”
Before the season begins, Leigh said he hopes to return to the D.C. area to see friends, family and the upcoming players at Robinson. Vossler, who now coaches Westfield High School in Chantilly, said Leigh’s ability to always give back to the community is one of the best traits that any NFL team should cherish.
“It’s going to be great next fall if we can turn the TV on and see him out there on Sundays,” Vossler said. “But I’m extremely proud of him already, just for who he is.”
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