Due to tearing an ACL during his senior year of high school, Ari Watford was behind most of his freshman campaign at Clemson.

Watford missed all of the spring and fall camp before being cleared to practice in September. Having missed so much time, he was mostly limited to working with the scout team, although he did log seven snaps in a late-season blowout win over Furman.

However, this year, Watford has been full-go both in the spring and now in fall camp, and he feels he’s making some strides in a defensive room littered with older, more experienced players.

“We still have a lot of leaders in the room, a lot of older guys,” Watford said. “Last year, me coming in, I did not have a spring, nor fall camp, so I really did not have any experience coming into this year. This is my first real year.”

No matter where he ultimately falls in the pecking order, Watford feels like this Clemson defense will be improved.

The Tigers experienced their fair share of struggles on that side of the ball in Tom Allen’s first year as defensive coordinator, and the goal throughout the offseason has been to get the unit back to playing to that standard.

At the same time, if opposing offenses want to sleep on the defense based on the results from a season ago, Watford welcomes that mentality. He believes the Tigers are putting in the work necessary to rise to that challenge.

“Considering what we did last year, a lot of people are kind of sleeping on us,” Watford said. “But that is what they should do. We are here getting the work in, day in and day out, and that is all we are trying to look forward to. The work showing up on the field.”

Coming out of high school, Watford was a unanimous four-star prospect. Despite the knee injury, he was a finalist for the Gatorade Player of the Year Award in Virginia after racking up 52 tackles, 22 tackles for loss, eight sacks, 13 quarterback hurries, three forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries in helping lead his team to a 15-0 record and a state title.

As a junior, Watford’s team also went unbeaten and won a state title, with him recording 69 tackles, seven sacks, four fumble recoveries and three forced fumbles.

That kind of production is why Clemson signed him, and while it may be taking him a little longer to earn a spot in the rotation, at some point, it’s going to come.

“It is up to you to go get it each and every day,” Watford said. “You’ve got to work hard and show that you are the guy to do it.”