The Hurry Up is your nightly dose of updates from the Ohio State football recruiting trail, keeping tabs on the latest from commits and targets from around the country.
Aaron Armitage Reacts to His First Ohio Stat Visit
When New Jersey defensive end Aaron Armitage talked to Eleven Warriors in May, he said even though he hadn’t met Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson, he had heard plenty about his reputation and was eager to meet him. Armitage got that opportunity last weekend, as he made his way to Columbus for his first visit to Ohio State.
“It was unbelievable,” Armitage told Eleven Warriors this week. “He’s better than I pictured. Very inspirational and loves his players to death. He’s someone who would be a great coach for me.”
For some prospects, getting an offer from Ohio State requires making the trip to Columbus and having extensive conversations with the staff, but for Armitage, Johnson liked his film so much that the Buckeyes extended an offer in May.
At 6-foot-4, 240 pounds, Armitage, the No. 12 defensive end in the 2021 class, is a force coming around the edge. He is very capable of reading the limits he has on each play, understanding when to stop rushing and when to look to deflect passes. He is also working on his windmill dunk.
He’s very dynamic in what he can do from a standing or a three-point stance. That has Johnson already looking at the possibilities for what Armitage can do at the next level.
“He said anywhere on the line,” Armitage said. “He’s gonna put me everywhere and test me to see where i’m gonna do best. Like he said, he put Nick Bosa at a 3-tech and Chase Young inside as well. He wants to see where you will excel, but he believes defensive end or outside linebacker, maybe.”
After his tour of the facilities, Armitage was able to sit down with his family and Ryan Day.
“It was a great impression,” Armitage said about Day. “He gave us lots of insight on Ohio State, and not only talked about how great football is, but the academics and what they are going to do to help me get a degree in what I want to major in.”
He is bringing in offers from most top programs in the nation, including offers from Florida, Michigan, LSU, Michigan, Texas A&M and even a Pac-12 offer from California. He still isn’t set on where he plans to attend yet, but Ohio State is in the mix.
“I would say it’s a school i would highly consider, but I have no idea where I want to go yet,” Armitage said. “I might decide in a year but still have so much time. But it’s a school I like a lot and am going to consider.”
Rivals Top-250 Released
Earlier this week, Rivals released its top-100 and then released its top-250 the next day. The top storyline involving the top-100 was that Ohio State quarterback commit Jack Miller continued to drop in ratings systems. He fell out of the top-100, and the next day, it was determined that he didn’t fall too far – just to No. 107, which was a 27-spot fall.
Again, regarding Miller, these ratings drops aren’t anything to panic about.
Another prospect within the Ohio State recruiting stratosphere that fell out of the top-100 is North Carolina defensive lineman Jacolbe Cowan, who dropped 50 spots to No. 138. There really isn’t a probable explanation for that drop. He performed well at The Opening Finals but remains uncommitted. Though, again, once the high school season kicks into gear, these ratings will all change.
Since the top-100 was covered earlier this week, these re the Ohio State commits and targets that finished within the top 101-250.
- 102. Tyler Baron -5
- 107. Jack Miller -27
- 138. Jacolbe Cowan -50
- 139. Lejond Cavazos +3
- 159. Mike Drennen -1
- 178. Cody Simon +9
- 204. Luke Wypler -1
