Grade

Photo: David Jensen / Getty Images

5th Round - 7th Round

2026 Draft Class

Tristan Leigh

Grade

Status

UDFAMinnesota Vikings

Clemson

6'4"

310lbs

Age 23

Jun 10, 2026

Executive Summary

Tristan Leigh is a developmental offensive lineman whose length, physicality, and positional flexibility give him a legitimate opportunity to stick on an NFL roster despite going undrafted.

Strengths

Athleticism, Physicality, and Strength

Weaknesses

Footwork, Hand Usage, Height

Full Scouting Report

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Frame

Pros:

•Really long arms over 34 inches

Cons:

•Underweight at 312lbs

•Very much undersized at 6’4”

•Top-heavy

Athleticism

Pros:

•Seems agile on his feet

•Can reach secondary defenders well

•Decent knee bend

•Solid flexibility in his lower back

Cons:

•Doesn’t have the fastest overall speed

•Not explosive

•Meh change of direction

Footwork

Pros:

•Has solid footwork on his pulls

•Solid dropstep

•Barely average mirroring and decent side-to-side speed/movement

Feet stay moving after contact in pass protection

•Kick foot adjusts well after he reaches his landmark

•Surprisingly stays on his feet despite bad technique and is an average athlete

Cons:

•Overextends and hits from his toes too often

•Overpursues way too much in backside blocks and allows weakside defenders to get back into the play

•Feet stop moving after contact, which leads to crossover steps and a narrow base with no post foot to cut off the B gap

•Feet can become stagnant when he is uncovered, or there isn’t an initial threat

•Base can get too narrow

•His kickslide after his initial drop step back is stiff and slow

•Feet also stop moving on angle blocks, which led to him getting smacked on his face by LSU

•Gives up the edge too much when his feet are just simply not quick enough

Hand Usage

Pros:

•Edges struggle to long arm him because of his length

•Decent grip strength in pass protection

•Hand replacement technique seems solid

•Shown very small flashes of independent hand movement

Cons:

•Lacks an arm bar

•Hands aren’t necessarily violent

•Hand replacement, on occasion isn’t good, and he ends up just resting his hands in a spot that gains no leverage

Strength / Anchor

Pros:

•Has shown flashes of being able to anchor down

•Hooks defenders well at the point of attack

•Absorbs power pretty well

•Seals off defenders well

•Solid overall at the POA and opens good holes for the RB to go through

Cons:

•Gets pried open on angle blocks and down blacks so easily

•Takes too long to anchor down and halt a bull rush

•Doesn’t sustain blocks long enough

Physicality

Pros:

•Loves to finish a block

•Good initial punch/hit on second-level defenders on pulls

•Love his mentality of jumping at the pile to move it forward in scrums

Cons:

•Got absolutely rocked on a pull against a Syracuse LB

Processing / Game IQ

Pros:

•Sees stunts decently well

•His timing getting to the second level isn’t bad

•Has some snaps at guard in certain sets

Cons:

•Can be a little late to see delayed blitzes and react

•4 penalties

•Gets confused pretty easily about his assignments when the defense lines up in an overload set

Games Watched:

•Week 1 vs LSU, Week 4 vs SYR, Week 8 vs DUKE, Week 12 vs SC

Ideal Situation:

•I am still kind of surprised that Tristan Leigh didn’t get drafted. Most scouts had relatively good grades on him, and he still wasn’t picked from over 200 prospects. Tristan Leigh was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Minnesota Vikings. He currently projects as the LT4 on the Vikings depth chart. I think at the NFL level, he should move to guard and only play tackle if needed. Leigh has solid athleticism, hard to fully tell as he didn’t participate in testing. Leigh would have plus-sized arms for guard at a little over 34 inches. He has the athleticism and frame for the position. His footwork wouldn’t need to be as reliant as it is at OT, and his physicality and strength at the point of attack would really show. Leigh just turned 23 in late April, which is a little older, but nothing crazy. Leigh has also had lingering ankle injuries in 2024 and 2025. He had to miss multiple games in 2025 because of it. I anticipate he will move to guard and could develop into a decent 3rd or backup guard for the Vikings. Leigh’s overall technique will need refinement, but I believe he has the tools to carve out a path in the NFL if he continues to develop.

Rating:

•Frame – 6.4/10

•Athleticism – 7.6/10

•Footwork – 5.5/10

•Hand Usage – 6.8/10

•Strength / Anchor – 7.3/10

•Physicality – 8.3/10

•Processing / Game IQ – 6.9/10

Total = 69.3/100 Early 5th or Late 4th

Andrés Griñe

Founder of DiamondProspects and Head NFL Scout View Full Bio

I am an Assistant in Player Personnel/Scouting for Washington State Football with over six years of experience scouting NFL prospects and evaluating talent. I previously covered high school baseball as a writer for NMPreps and now run DiamondProspects, where I publish scouting reports, prospect evaluations, and draft analysis. I am currently a junior pursuing a degree in Sports Management and am originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

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