One of Ohio State’s top safety targets in the 2024 class was back on campus last weekend.
Four-star Florida safety Jordon Johnson-Rubell attended Ohio State’s first spring scrimmage on Saturday and was impressed by what he saw from the Buckeyes.
The Ohio State University
— Jordon Johnson-Rubell (@jjrubell) March 27, 2023
#gobuckeyes
@Coach_Eliano @jchorba16 pic.twitter.com/e0SOn9ack1
“It was a great visit, seeing coach Perry Eliano again,” Johnson-Rubell told Eleven Warriors. “We sat down in the film room, and it was definitely a great experience to go over things they do on the field and things they could see me doing in their defense. He sees me as a Lathan Ransom type of guy who is moving around the field, at safety and down in the box.
"I also talked to Lathan about how his career has been at Ohio State. He had to come in as a freshman and grind, got hurt, faced some obstacles and now is one of the best players on the defense.”
Johnson-Rubell also conversed with Denzel Burke, as Johnson-Rubell’s stepfather and Burke’s father share a friendship.
“I love the way he plays,” Johnson-Rubell said.
As a fellow IMG Academy (Bradenton, Florida) product, Johnson-Rubell was also happy to see Carnell Tate make standout plays as a freshman and saw him lose his black stripe in that practice.
“Seeing him transform, he’s already a mature guy,” Johnson-Rubell said of Tate. “To see him get that black stripe off his helmet and seeing him again was great.”
In the meeting with Eliano, Johnson-Rubell said he and the Ohio State safeties coach had a productive conversation about the top-110 prospect’s on-field abilities.
“He told me how they see me in the playbook and told me some things I need to work on,” Johnson-Rubell said. “I like coaches like that. I don’t like to hear just all the good things I do. I like to hear things I can get better at. The scheme they run, we run the same scheme at IMG, and he said my film transitions to their playbook.”
The 5-foot-10, 180-pound Johnson-Rubell picked up his Ohio State offer on Jan. 13, an opportunity he said he was grateful for.
“It was a dream come true,” Johnson-Rubell said. “I was a big Jeff Okudah fan. He stayed about 35 minutes away from me. I used to look up to him about how he made the change from being a Texas guy to an Ohio guy, and now I see why he did it.”
Johnson-Rubell said he’s highly considering Ohio State in his recruitment and already has an official visit scheduled with the Buckeyes for June 16-18. As for his decision timeline, Johnson-Rubell said he hopes to commit before his senior season but will take the recruiting process into the fall if need be.
Mike Matthews puts Ohio State in his top 12
A five-star 2024 wide receiver with an Ohio State offer has included the Buckeyes in his trimmed-down school list.
Georgia prospect Mike Matthews released a top 12 Tuesday consisting of Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Auburn, Colorado, USC, Tennessee, LSU, Michigan, Texas A&M and Arkansas.
BREAKING: Five-Star WR Mike Matthews tells me he is down to 12 Schools!
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) March 28, 2023
The 62 185 WR from Lilburn, GA is ranked as the No. 8 Player in the 24 Class (No. 3 WR)
Where Should He Go? https://t.co/SAwD01KR2z pic.twitter.com/QpSy5RZzty
Ohio State offered Matthews in May 2022. He is considered the sixth-best prospect and second-ranked wide receiver in the 2024 class per 247Sports’ composite rankings. In his junior season, Matthews caught 48 passes for 1,031 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Byron Louis to visit Ohio State this week
An Ohio State running back target in the 2025 class has made his way back to the Buckeyes.
Florida prospect Byron Louis is visiting Columbus Wednesday and Thursday and tweeted he had arrived in town on Wednesday.
Just Touchdown Buckeye Nation #GoBuckeyes #buckeyesnation #TheOhioState @CoachTonyAlford @Brandon1inniss pic.twitter.com/C7SwfLRe0O
— Byron Louis (@byronlouis_) March 29, 2023
Ohio State offered the 5-foot-10, 180-pound Louis last May. He is the former high school teammate of Ohio State signee Brandon Inniss and ran for 439 yards and 11 touchdowns last season for American Heritage (Fort Lauderdale, Florida).
