After finishing his workout at Ohio State’s first recruiting camp of June on Wednesday morning, Elias Rudolph was confident he had performed well enough to receive an offer.
Later that afternoon, Ohio State’s coaches confirmed that he did, making him the seventh defensive end in the recruiting class of 2024 to earn an offer from the Buckeyes.
After a great camp performance today, I am blessed to announce that I have earned a offer from The Ohio State University! #GoBucks @R2X_Rushmen1 @ryandaytime @CoachTy_1 Thanks for having me out pic.twitter.com/DJxv1saxYp
— Elias Rudolph (@EliasRudolph6) June 1, 2022
Rudolph looked the part of a potential Buckeye as he went through workouts on Wednesday morning at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. He stood out as one of the most athletic players in a group of defensive line prospects that included three others with Ohio State offers: 2023 commit Will Smith Jr., 2026 phenom Tyler Atkinson and 2023 defensive end Jalen Thompson, who also received his offer from the Buckeyes after camping on Wednesday.
His explosiveness and quickness stood out during drill work, in which he ran the fastest 3-cone drill time (7.6 seconds) among all players in his group. He also posted a 4.7-second 40-yard dash and a 9-foot broad jump and often blew by his opponents during the competitive one-on-one portion of the day.
All of that was enough for Rudolph to become the first in-state recruit in the defensive front seven to earn an Ohio State offer in the 2024 class.
For Rudolph, who is ranked as the No. 204 overall prospect and the No. 4 player in Ohio’s 2024 class per 247Sports’ composite rankings, the offer from the Buckeyes validates his belief that he’s one of the state’s top players going into his junior year.
“It’s BIA, that's what they call themselves, the best in America,” Rudolph said of camping at Ohio State. “So I just wanted to come out here and compete, get better, develop myself and just show them the talent I got.”
Before Wednesday, Rudolph said he hadn’t heard much from Ohio State’s coaches, aside from Buckeye coaches making a couple of visits to his high school.
That said, Ohio State has always been one of the Cincinnati native’s favorite teams.
“I ain’t a fan of too many schools, but I'm a fan of Ohio State,” Rudolph said.
He wouldn’t be the first defensive lineman from Taft High School to play for the Buckeyes. Adolphus Washington, who’s known as “Too Tall” at his high school alma mater, starred at Taft before playing for Ohio State, where he became an All-American defensive tackle.
Rudolph’s aspiration is to ultimately become an even better player than Washington, who went on to play in the NFL for three seasons after his Buckeye career.
“I feel like I could be better than Too Tall,” Rudolph said. “I feel like I can do better than him … My goal is to reach his goals and then pass his goals.”
Whether Rudolph will follow in Washington’s Ohio State footsteps remains to be determined. He had already received 17 offers before getting his offer from the Buckeyes, and says the two schools who he’s talked with the most so far in his recruiting process are Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. He planned to visit Cincinnati on Thursday after camping at Ohio State on Wednesday, while he will also be camping at Kent State and hopes to visit Michigan later this month.
With two more years of high school still to go, Rudolph does not yet have any timeline for narrowing down his recruitment; he plans to let the process play out for a while. He told Eleven Warriors he is planning to return to Ohio State for another visit in the future.
At only 215 pounds, Rudolph will have to continue to bulk up if he’s going to play defensive end in the Big Ten. His combination of length and athleticism gives him high upside, though, and he expects to be between 235-240 pounds when he starts his college career. By offering him on Wednesday, the Buckeyes showed their confidence in what they think he’ll ultimately become as a player.
Rudolph thinks he impressed Ohio State by showcasing his effort as well as his physical attributes.
“I feel like I give a great aggressive fight,” Rudolph said. “That's what I feel like I do best. But my main thing is my speed.”
Ohio State, and specifically defensive line coach Larry Johnson, also made an impression on Rudolph.
“I really love that coach,” Rudolph said. “I feel like he sees something in me and he wants to push me to do that. It gave me more energy to perform great.”
