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Josh Padilla reacts to Ohio State offer, Buckeyes team to beat

Jeremy-Birminghamby:Jeremy Birmingham•03/23/21•

Birm

Josh-Padilla-by-Birm-Lettermen-Row

COLUMBUS — Ohio State is the team to beat for 2023 offensive lineman Josh Padilla after the Buckeyes offered on Monday.

That doesn’t mean the 6-foot-4, 265-pound Huber Heights (Wayne, Ohio) standout is in any hurry to decide.

“Growing up I loved watching the Bosa brothers because i wanted to play defensive end when i was younger,” Padilla told Lettermen Row. “I’ve always looked for the Ohio State players that came through my high school.

“It means a lot knowing I have an offer from Ohio State now. I’m going to wait [before a decision] though. I want to build a great relationship with the coaching staff and learn more and more about Ohio State as time goes on.”

The relationship part of the game is hard to develop this early. The Buckeyes can’t spend too much time talking to Padilla, but the call on Monday was a memorable one.

“My head coach sent me [Ohio State offensive coordinator Kevin] Wilson’s contact,” he said. “I knew right away it was Ohio State because he follows me on Twitter. I talked with him on the phone for a while then he gave the phone to Coach Stud. We had a great conversation with for about 15 minutes. They offered me at the end of the conversation.”

Ohio State doesn’t offer many in-state linemen and even more rare is to do it so early. The explanation that offensive line coach Greg Studrawa provided Josh Padilla was simple: he plays nasty football.

“They loved how nasty I was on the field,” Padilla said. “He told me ‘We can teach you technique but we cant teach mental toughness and a mentally like yours.’ He said they watched my film about a month ago and had been keeping and eye on me.

Coach Stud was really cool. Definitely one of my favorite coaches I’ve talked to. He told me this offer it should make me grind even harder and work to achieve more goals now. They loved that I wrestle, too. I think that was a big factor in why I got offered now.”

Padilla is currently unranked but that’s going to change in the near future. He plays tackle at Wayne High School opposite recent Buckeyes offer Aamil Wagner, but will likely play guard at the next level. Though Josh Padilla isn’t in any hurry to make a college choice, he won’t deny that the Buckeyes are the leaders now in his recruitment.

“Most definitely,” he said. “My family was super proud of this offer.”

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