There was no pre-commitment announcement. No build up.
On Thursday night, 2023 Wayne offensive lineman Joshua Padilla went with his gut and announced his commitment to the Buckeyes.
Even though the commitment happened out of the blue, the signs were there that this was in the works for a while. Once Sept. 1 rolled around and college coaches could directly contact recruits in their junior year, Padilla felt like a priority to Ohio State.
"That was a big day for me, I saw how crazy my phone blew up," Padilla told Eleven Warriors in September. "I've been texting with (offensive line coach Greg) Studrawa and coach (Ryan) Day almost every day. I saw that they're both great people and great personalities."
The Wayne standout has made a slew of Ohio State visits dating back to when the dead period lifted in June. Padilla attended an Ohio State camp on June 22, where he played center in various drills, then attended his first-ever OSU game on Sept. 11 when the Buckeyes hosted Oregon. He came back to Columbus later that month to watch OSU beat Akron, then attended the Buckeyes' 33-24 victory over Penn State last Saturday, which turned out to be just mere days before he announced his decision to give his verbal commitment to the Buckeyes.
In August, Padilla told Eleven Warriors he planned on making his commitment after he took his official visits, but that he could bump the date up if he finds the right fit earlier. Evidently, Padilla only needed to go 90 miles down the road to find his right fit, and didn't need to use all of his official visits to make a decision after all.
On the field
While Padilla has played right tackle for Wayne primarily, he knows that when he gets to the next level, he will either be a center or a guard.
Padilla has a quick burst off the line, showing no fear when making his blocks regardless of the size of his opponent. He continues his blocks to the second level on run plays and does not stop until the whistle blows. Considering he's been starting since his freshman year of high school, the Buckeyes will have plenty of film to look at from Padilla when starting to refine his technique at the next level.
One play that stands out from his highlight film came on a teammate's touchdown run. While his teammate had already scored, Padilla stayed busy battling an opposing defender in the end zone because of his tenacity. It's plays like that which earned him a reputation of having a mean streak, something OSU looks for in all of its offensive linemen.
Toughness is not an issue for Padilla, as it's one of the aspects that drew the Buckeyes to him in the first place after seeing him thrive in wrestling as a dual-sport athlete. Once Ohio State offensive line coach Greg Studrawa explored his sophomore film more, an offer was extended to Padilla in March 2021.
While Padilla was recruited to Ohio State for his blocking ability, the 2023 offensive lineman has also executed a different kind of block on special teams, giving him potential additional value in that phase of the game.
My first ever field goal block, great team win!! pic.twitter.com/Pkg8gUF3VF
— Joshua Padilla (@JoshuaPadilla66) October 9, 2021
Even though Wayne was upset in the first round of this year's playoffs, Padilla helped lead the team to an 8-3 overall record. In his sophomore year, Wayne went 5-3.
In the class
Although Ohio State's 2023 class has grown by one, it's still a relatively small recruiting class to this point. Padilla will now join fellow 2023 commitment Ty Lockwood, a four-star tight end, to help recruit fellow prospects to a class that may see more momentum in the coming weeks.
Padilla has already begun building relationships with his peers in the 2023 class, and has highlighted that brotherhood in previous interviews.
“Seeing Sonny Styles, seeing Luke Montgomery there, it's going to be good,” Padilla said ahead of his visit to OSU when it hosted Oregon. “Getting their opinion on Ohio State would just be huge.”
At least two other Ohio State targets in the class of 2023 who also visited Columbus last Saturday took nice of Padilla's commitment.
BOOM!! https://t.co/3g71jgrxmR
— Carnell Tate (@carnelltate_) November 4, 2021
yessir ! https://t.co/MQ169R3ju7
— Zachariah Branch (@zachariahb03) November 4, 2021
Padilla picked Ohio State over Michigan, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Penn State, Michigan State and Oregon.
