Could Ohio State Hold An Edge For Jayden Jackson?

BRADENTON, Fla. – There was no shortage of coaches on Wednesday at IMG Academy’s spring scrimmage and one of the players that many were there to see was defensive lineman Jayden Jackson.

The 6-foot-2, 300-pound defensive tackle did not disappoint during the scripted event that saw many of the nation’s top players in action as IMG is loaded once again.

Jackson has a top-five of Ohio State, Miami, Florida, Oklahoma and Texas. Coaches from all five schools were seen at the event including Larry Johnson from the Buckeyes.

Ohio State certainly has a level of familiarity on its side as Jackson has been camping with the Buckeyes in the past and has known coach Johnson since his 8^th grade year.

“The relationship runs deep, all the way back to 8^th (grade) as well as sophomore and junior season,” Jackson said. “I’d definitely would say it is a strong connection.”

Jackson made his way to Columbus for Ohio State’s spring game in April. The fact that Ohio State led the nation in spring game attendance was not lost on him as 74-thousand fans (give or take) packed Ohio Stadium to watch a practice.

“The fans were just going crazy,” Jackson said. “I took some pictures with a bunch of kids and stuff, and it was just, it was just great to meet everyone and overall, it was just, you know, crazy, crazy experience.”

Defensive tackle is always a position of need, and the Buckeyes are looking at several this recruiting cycle. What have the conversations been like when it comes to how Ohio State sees Jackson fitting into the system?

“They’ve been telling me great things about their schemes,” Jackson said. “I went over schemes (during my visit).”

Jackson has not announced an official visit schedule yet but plans to take all five of them before a decision is made. Ohio State is in line for one of those visits as Jackson would like to announce prior to his senior season to get the recruiting portion of things out of the way and just be able to focus on football.

Check out more from this one-on-one interview with Jackson as part of our Southern Swing coverage, only here on BuckeyeHuddle.com.