After tight end Jordan Leggett graduated last spring, Clemson did not have a definite answer to who would take his spot last season.

The position group took a big hit when Garrett Williams tore his ACL during spring practice, taking away a player who looked like they would either be the No. 1 or 2 guy going into the season.

Williams is back and competing for the starting spot once again and he used his time on the scout team wisely last fall.

“Well I went on the scout team this past season, so doing that really helped me just get back into playing shape,” the redshirt junior said following Wednesday’s practice. “It kind of bothered me at first, but now it’s pretty much good because I took so much time to recover the right way.”

Losing playing time, watching your teammates play and being limited in any sort of practice is always tough on an injured player, but Williams said the toughest thing for him was not being able to compete.

“Just being able to compete with the guys every day,” he said. “The worst thing about being out was feeling like you weren’t contributing to anything and you’re just kind of out there taking up space. Being back and with everybody all the time really makes you appreciate it more.”

Williams used last fall as a chance to step back and study what he needed to improve with the aim at helping him get a jump start on this spring and summer.

“I mainly worked on my mental game. You can only have so many people at fall camp, so I was on the IR. I wasn’t allowed to do segment meetings so I would go to Coach (Danny) Pearman’s office and just study the offense and get a better grasp on what I have to do when I get back,” he said.

Williams is trying to improve his skills in the passing game this season so that the Clemson offense can try and get back to more passing plays to tight ends, something the Tigers struggled with last season without Leggett.

“Since high school I’ve always been a better blocker,” said Williams. “I haven’t done much spread out passing, but I’m spending a lot of time on it because it’s not something that comes naturally to me. I definitely feel like I’m getting smoother in the passing game.”

Knee injuries can be tough to come back from just because of how easy it is to come back and immediately hurt that same area, but Williams said his scout team experience last fall helped him get his confidence back.

“You can’t be thinking about it when you’re out there,” he said. “The first play out there when I was on the scout team, I was running a little shuttle pass and Clelin [Ferrell] just laid me out. That was good for me so I could learn to trust my knee and trust it.”

As Williams looks to make a big imprint on the Clemson offense this fall, none of this would have been possible without his family, faith and friends.

“First and foremost, Jesus Christ and the sacrifices that he made for me. My family, my girlfriend and all of the other tight ends here,” said Williams. “They all helped me.”