As Ohio State’s offensive line looks to bounce back from its dismal performance in the Cotton Bowl, Deontae Armstrong might not stand out as someone who can help the Buckeyes turn things around up front quickly.
After all, he was ranked as only the 428th-best prospect in the 2024 recruiting class, per 247Sports’ composite rankings. But Armstrong is confident he’ll prove he should have been ranked higher.
“I really think the rankings should go out the window for me,” Armstrong told Eleven Warriors earlier this month before enrolling at Ohio State. “In general, but especially for me and my brother (fellow Ohio State freshman offensive lineman Devontae Armstrong), because we played a national schedule here at St. Ed’s against some top competition. A lot of times the rankings get brought up, ‘Oh, they’re only four-stars’ and stuff like that. But I think we'll go in there, and I know we’ll dominate. We’re gonna dominate from the first day. As far as putting on the body weight and stuff like that. So we just want to go in there and dominate as Buckeyes and help any way we can. Rankings aside.”
While Armstrong wasn’t the most highly touted recruit, there’s a lot to like about his game and his potential. He already looks the part of a collegiate offensive tackle at 6-foot-7 and 285 pounds with plentiful athleticism for his size, and he doesn’t expect to have much trouble putting on the requisite weight to play in the Big Ten, saying he just “wanted to wait until college so I could do it right.”
And Armstrong already knows what it takes to play championship-level football, having won three straight Ohio Division I state championships in his final three years at St. Edward High School. Armstrong expects that experience to give him and his brother a leg up over the typical incoming freshman.
“Ohio State runs a similar offense to my high school team. So adjusting mentally won't be that tough of a challenge,” Armstrong said. “Of course there will be more details, because it's college football and everything like that. But we ran a similar offense at St. Ed’s.
“It's experience with even the same terminology. I was talking to (Ohio State offensive line coach Justin) Frye and we got a lot of the same names for a lot of the same stuff. I think it helps being coached and going against actually good players. Not going against small-name schools. I mean, we went against OSU targets even, like (Clemson freshman defensive end Darien Mayo), on national TV. So going against the best of the best every week in high school, I think that will only help me out for college.”
“A lot of times the rankings get brought up, ‘Oh, they’re only four-stars’ and stuff like that. But I think we'll go in there, and I know we’ll dominate. We’re gonna dominate from the first day.”– Deontae Armstrong on his and his brother’s expectations at Ohio State
As offensive line is a position where players usually need at least one year of development before they’re ready to play at the collegiate level, Armstrong is unlikely to play a major role as a true freshman. But Armstrong is inspired by how quickly Luke Montgomery earned playing time as a sixth offensive lineman this past season and aspires to be ready to play as soon as Ohio State needs him to.
“I want to insert myself and learn from the guys and then take off with what they're telling me. Take off with the technique that Coach Frye’s telling me, and not let me coming in as a freshman or whatever deter me from thinking I can't go in there and play right away or play eventually,” Armstrong said. “I’m not looking at me being a freshman and saying I can't help out the team, I want to help the team right away in any way possible. And really just try to dominate every practice and go out there and do my job to my best ability and see where that takes me.”
Lifelong Buckeye fan driven to beat Michigan
Having always been an Ohio State fan, Armstrong described it as “a dream come true” to be officially starting his career as a Buckeye this month.
“Growing up an Ohio State fan, it's pretty surreal to go in there and have this opportunity that I always wanted since I was a little kid,” Armstrong said.
It makes it even more special that he gets to be a Buckeye alongside his twin brother Devontae Armstrong, a composite three-star prospect ranked as the No. 465 prospect in the 2024 class. The siblings lined up alongside each other on the offensive line at St. Edward, where Deontae played left tackle and Devontae played left guard; they’ve dreamed of doing the same at the collegiate level, though they’ll be happy if they both get the chance to play anywhere along the line.
“I don’t know how realistic that is, maybe we might get moved a little bit, but that'd be definitely ideal to play right next to each other,” Deontae said.
Devontae (left) and Deontae Armstrong are both now at Ohio State as early enrollees after playing together at St. Edward High School.
Armstrong has high expectations for what he can accomplish on the field individually, while the business major says academics will also be a big priority for him at Ohio State
From a football perspective, though, Armstrong’s biggest goal is to help the Buckeyes end their three-game losing streak in The Game.
“I love Ohio State. I grew up an Ohio State fan. Hate Michigan. That was the squad most recruited by that I only went to one time,” Armstrong said. “Losing to Michigan sucks, it feels like you just got stabbed in the back.”
As a native Ohioan, Armstrong feels a responsibility to make sure his recruiting classmates understand the importance of turning things around in the rivalry as they begin their Buckeye careers.
“I think we can really bring motivation and stuff like that to the guys in the locker room, who probably aren’t from Ohio, who probably don't know much about the rivalry, and really just bring a fire to the game, bring that fire back up again,” Armstrong said. “You watch guys like (former Ohio State tight end) Cade Stover trying to motivate the guys. It's important to have those Ohio guys who know about the rivalry, who care about the rivalry, who know what it feels like after you witness an Ohio State loss to Michigan.
“It just shows that the team’s human and they can lose. But of course, you don't want to have that same feeling again. You don't want to know what it feels like firsthand when you're out on the field.”
