Ohio State defensive end target London Merritt dominates at Future 50

BRADENTON, Fla. — On a big recruiting weekend for the 2024 class for Ohio State, there was a Buckeye target in the 2025 class dominating down in Florida. Atlanta (GA) Woodward Academy star London Merritt showed a full arsenal of pass rush moves in a dominant performance to win the O-Line vs. D-Line challenge at the Under Armour Future 50 camp as the talented prospect continues to establish himself as one of the nation’s top junior edge rushers.

BuckeyeHuddle.com was in Bradenton over the weekend to catch all of the action and caught up with Merritt after the camp to get his thoughts on the performance.

“If they stop you, you just have to keep on working,” said Merritt who lost a rep early and then was unstoppable the rest of the way. “I might have been a little iffy those first couple of reps, but after that I got into the top two finalists and didn’t lose a rep so you just have to keep working.”

Merritt is fresh off another visit to Ohio State where he recently camped and had an opportunity work with Buckeyes’ defensive line coach Larry Johnson.

“It was great,” Merritt recalled. “We had a little one-on-one meeting. We watched some Chase Young film from when he was in high school, comparing me to him and stuff. The transition for (Young) from his senior year (of high school) to his freshman year at Ohio State was kind of crazy. I was surprised because in high school he wasn’t as big as he is now. His freshman year, shoot it was crazy, like his whole body changed.”

With Ohio State being a school that Merritt is seriously considering, it was important for him to get to spend some time working with Johnson to get a feel for what type of coach he is and to see if that is a relationship that he could see working down the road.

“It was really important.” Merritt explained. “Just building relationships. That’s like my main thing with going on these visits and camps and stuff. Coach Johnson just stands out from a lot of these coaches at these other schools.”

The Buckeyes have established themselves as a serious early contender because of the relationships Merritt and his family are building with the staff in Columbus.

“It’s up there, for sure,” Merritt said of his interest level in the Buckeyes. “Ohio State, they do a lot of really good things. Coach Johnson is just a really great dude in general. As long as he’s there, and shoot, coach Day, he and my dad got along great. They’re both sneakerheads, they like shoes. Ohio State is just a really, really good school.”

Merritt indicated that a decision won’t be coming until after his upcoming junior season but that Ohio State will likely get a return visit this fall for a game.

For more on the Top 100 prospect, check out our 1-on-1 interview with one of Ohio State’s top defensive end targets: