4-star offensive lineman Josh Padilla commits to Ohio State
Ohio State football recruiting can be a wild ride full of twists and turns as recruits from all over the country maneuver their way to signing day. Lettermen Row is here to help navigate the tumultuous roads by getting to the heart of the matter with the young football players and Ohio State coaches and staff members themselves. Today’s guest is Josh Padilla, a 4-star lineman from Ohio who has just announced his college decision.
COLUMBUS – The Ohio State 2023 offensive line class appears to be coming together. Commitment No. 2 is in: Josh Padilla has pledged to the home-state Buckeyes.
Padilla, a junior at Wayne (Huber Heights) High School, announced his decision on Thursday. He now knows he will be continuing his football career less than 90 minutes away from his Dayton-area home.
A 6-foot-4, 275-pound offensive lineman, Padilla was offered by the Buckeyes in March. He popped up on Ohio State’s radar when the coaching staff noticed his wrestling ability from winter meets. Once Greg Studrawa and Co. dug into his sophomore film, Padilla was targeted more heavily.
Since that offer, many believed Padilla would wind up being one of the first commitments in the Class of 2023. The Wayne Warriors star made that official today.
“It was just every single game I went to,” Padilla told Lettermen Row. “I was like ‘Man, this place is home.’ So I’d just keep going back to Ohio State and I found more and more that the place is just going to be like home.”
Padilla is one of the best offensive linemen in the Midwest, and he still has another offseason and a senior season to continue his development.
The Ohio standout plays right tackle for Wayne High School, but Padilla will be an interior offensive lineman at the next level. It’s likely he will be a guard at Ohio State, but he has the ability to play center. He has manned that position at offseason camps – both Ohio State-hosted camps and Under Armour camps.
Padilla is ranked No. 265 overall in the On3 rankings and No. 219 in the On3 Consensus. He is the 14th-ranked interior offensive lineman and No. 4-ranked junior in the state of Ohio.
Why did Padilla ultimately decide Ohio State was the right choice? How will he help build the Buckeyes class as a peer recruiter? And could this be the first of a hot stretch for Ohio State’s 2023 cycle?
Padilla joined Birminology on Lettermen Row to talk about his big decision.
