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.
Fully padded or just a walkthrough, players this week haven’t been able to hit each other during All-American Bowl practices.
For an aggressive, downhill and hard-hitting safety like Lathan Ransom, a week of being on the field without smashing his helmet and shoulder pads into someone is starting to make him a little antsy. But that all ends Saturday, when Ransom and three fellow Ohio State signees on the West Team (Gee Scott Jr., C.J. Stroud, Kourt Williams) will clash against the East Team that also features four Buckeye signees (Cody Simon, Paris Johnson Jr., Luke Wypler, Josh Fryar) in this year's All-American Bowl in San Antonio.
Both sides have been gearing up since Monday for the game, which kicks off at 1 p.m. Saturday on NBC.
Even though the showcase of the nation’s top talent is a fun, sometimes laid back week, the competitive nature is still certain to come out of guys like Ransom when they take the field at the Alamodome.
“I just want one big hit or one big play and get the crowd into it,” Ransom told Eleven Warriors on Friday. “That’s what I’m really looking for is one big hit or interception tomorrow. But I think we’re prepared. The defense looks really good. We’ve been flying around, and we have a lot of great players.
“We’ve got (cornerback) Kelee (Ringo), we’ve got D-Ford (Darion Green-Warren), Dwight (McGlothern), Ayden Hector. We’ve got some solid DB's and some good linebackers too, so I’m excited to play with all those dudes tomorrow.”
CJ Stroud throwing at todays last practice before the All-American Bowl. Hes been throwing to future teammate Gee Scott Jr.
— Zack Carpenter (@Zack_Carp) January 3, 2020
Jaxon Smith-Njigba suffered an ankle injury on Wed & is on crutches today. Says X-rays were negative, ankle is feeling fine but that hell sit out the gm pic.twitter.com/wRtV7WJ1vU
Ransom is also enthusiastic about facing his future Buckeye teammates on the East Team. But with one caveat.
“The linemen I’m excited to go against; I just hope none of them pull my way,” Ransom said with a laugh. “‘Cause I’m gonna have to hit them low ‘cause they’re so big.
“But, no, Cody’s been balling all week. That’s really cool so I can’t wait to watch him out there. But I’m just excited to play all the great athletes on the East Team. They’ve got some real fast and physical receivers.”
Smith-Njigba’s ankle “swollen” but “good,” will sit out Saturday
I mentioned above there only being four future Buckeyes who will play for the West Team in Saturday’s game. That’s because the fifth, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, will be sitting out after suffering an ankle injury during the end of Wednesday’s practice.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba will sit out of Saturday's All-American Bowl with an ankle injury.
During one-on-one drills, Smith-Njigba suffered a rolled ankle during his last rep of the day, and he had to be helped off by teammates, including Stroud.
“I just was trying to go up for a ball and slow up and my ankle just rolled,” Smith-Njigba told Eleven Warriors. “We went to a hospital; tried to get x-rays. Everything’s good. Nothing’s broken. Nothing’s fractured. It’s just swollen, and we’re just waiting on it to heal itself, which really shouldn’t take that long. Maybe just a week or two.”
The Texas native star receiver grew up watching a lot of the local players he looked up to star at the All-American Bowl, so it’s a shame his skills won’t be on display. Plus, Smith-Njigba had been having an explosive week, gaining national praise for looking like the best receiver during one-on-one drills.
“On the football aspects, I’ve been able to see him surpass my expectations of him,” Scott told Eleven Warriors of Smith-Njigba. “I had been thinking of him in a certain way. I didn’t think he was a bad player. I thought he was just good. But he’s come out and shown me he’s an amazing player.”
However, this weekend was just going to be a blip on the radar for some of the things Smith-Njigba wants to accomplish.
“For me to see him get injured and see him go through that – it’s the first kind of adversity we’ve gone through together – I’ve been doing whatever I can to help him get through that,” Scott said. “I’m lucky to see that he actually seems OK. The doctors said he should be back in about a week so I think he’s just happy he’ll be at Ohio State and be able to work out. I think this game’s on the small scale of what he wants to do.”
Some photos from today's final West Team practice ahead of Saturday's All-American Bowl, ft. Ohio State signees Gee Scott Jr., Jaxon Smith-Njigba, C.J. Stroud + Kourt Williams/Lathan Ransom
— Zack Carpenter (@Zack_Carp) January 3, 2020
Check out more photos here:https://t.co/vol8lDREb8 pic.twitter.com/gI0CrDmggU
Smith-Njigba will certainly be vocal at the game Saturday, but he will be resting up, and it sounds like it will be a quick recovery before he hits Columbus next week.
Building relationships
Scott and Smith-Njigba have been roommates this week and will be roommates at Ohio State. More than anything, this week has been about building a bond between the two – one that was already strong before they converged on San Antonio. Their bonding is just one example of the many future Buckeyes whose relationships are strengthening this week before they hit campus as early enrollees.
Most, if not all, of the new early signees will be moving in on Sunday together, which is kind of a whirlwind experience going from their old home to Texas and immediately to Ohio.
“It’s hit me multiple times. It hasn’t hit me multiples times in a negative way. It’s just hit me that it’s a crazy reality,” said the Washington native Scott about the move. “I think about that all the time. Just coming out to this All-American Bowl, I’ve been thinking about it. Not only did I pack all my stuff for a five-day trip. I packed to move away, so it’s kinda crazy I’m not going back home. But I’ll be OK.”
