Ohio State '23 OH DL (RS FR) - Will Smith Jr.

Ohio State defensive line commit Will Smith Jr. told me he plans to work out at all of Ohio State’s camps this month.

He enjoyed camp No. 1: “It was definitely a different experience from last year. I felt much less pressure and just got to focus on learning and getting better.” https://t.co/S1Y7Iicr9o

— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) June 2, 2022

 

Around this time last summer, defensive tackle Will Smith Jr. was fighting tooth and nail at Ohio State’s recruiting camps to earn an offer.

Weighing in at around 250 pounds, OSU defensive line coach Larry Johnson told Smith Jr., the son of the late great OSU legend Will Smith, that he’d need to get up to 260 pounds by his senior year if he wanted an offer from the Buckeyes.

Smith Jr. put in the work and was rewarded with an OSU offer in January, then committed to the Buckeyes nine days later. And the 6-foot-3, now 268-pound defensive lineman is still working as hard as ever.

Despite being committed to Ohio State already, Smith Jr. attended OSU’s first recruiting camp of the summer Wednesday because of his desire to get better. And he’s not stopping at one. Smith Jr. told Eleven Warriors Thursday he plans on attending all of Ohio State’s six one-day camps.

“I wanted to go to camp to get the chance to work with coach Johnson and learn from him,” Smith Jr. said. “I’m planning to go to all the OSU camps. I also like the chance to get to know some of the recruits. It was definitely a different experience from last year. I felt much less pressure and just got to focus on learning and getting better.”

Smith Jr. was one of the better performers at Wednesday’s camp, winning nearly all of his one-on-ones. He said he picked up some notes from Johnson that he can now apply to his game.

“He gave some more pass rush tools to work on and just giving me some feedback during drills,” Smith Jr. said.

 

Last week, Ohio State commit Will Smith Jr. told Eleven Warriors he was going to attend six Ohio State one-day camps. True to his word, the 2023 defensive tackle prospect was back at it again on Monday. Once again, he looked sharp in winner-loser matchups.

 

Will Smith Jr. is attending every Ohio State camp because he wants to learn as much as he can from Larry Johnson and become an early leader in the Buckeyes’ 2023 class. https://t.co/FU2281GHsm

— Eleven Warriors (@11W) June 9, 2022

 

“I don’t have to show off for anybody. I’m there to be taught.”

Here's why @iwillsmithjr is spending his summer on the practice fields at Ohio State.

My latest for @OhioSt_Rivals #Buckeyes https://t.co/57H4fFlwH1

— Colin Gay (@_ColinGay) June 12, 2022

 

Will Smith Jr. getting in some one-on-one work with Larry Johnson while the other campers run the 40-yard dash at Ohio State’s fourth camp of the summer. pic.twitter.com/miQn7Dg459

— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) June 14, 2022

 

Fun rep here with Luke Hamilton (@Hammy07422) and Will Smith Jr. (@iwillsmithjr) going at it. pic.twitter.com/4L1gBxpqaG

— Garrick Hodge (@Garrick_Hodge) June 14, 2022

 

OSU commit Will Smith Jr. says he’s become increasingly comfortable recruiting other top-end players during the Buckeyes’ camp season. pic.twitter.com/6W2H9arBqq

— Griffin Strom (@GriffinStrom3) June 21, 2022

 

8. WILL SMITH JR., DT
Performance aside, Smith earned a place on this list with his dedication alone. The Ohio State commit was in attendance for all six of the Buckeyes’ big man camps this summer; he worked out at four of them, while he was still there to watch defensive line drills on the two camps that came on the second of back-to-back days.

Smith attended every camp because he wanted to learn as much as he could from Johnson ahead of his senior season at Dublin Coffman High School. And he made a good impression in the process. The 6-foot-3, 260-pound defensive tackle showed good explosiveness in drill work and looked better and better with each camp he participated in, winning the majority of his reps in one-on-ones.

The Ohio State legacy wants to be a leader in his class when he begins his career as a Buckeye next year, and he took a big step toward doing so by spending as much time around Johnson and putting in as much work as he could this summer.

 

OSU 2023 D-line verbal Will Smith Jr. was a fixture at all six of OSU's summer football camp sessions in June, he talked about working directly with DL coach Larry Johnsonhttps://t.co/FeqYQSik5G pic.twitter.com/yTZfqyieYn

— Steve Helwagen (@SteveHelwagen) July 9, 2022

 

Ohio State commit Will Smith 91 in pre-game warmups. pic.twitter.com/bUnTz1SOBt

— Bill Kurelic (@Bill_Kurelic) August 19, 2022

 

Ohio State D tackle commit Will Smith makes first tackle of game for Coffman after 1 yard gain. pic.twitter.com/JORysvlcqh

— Bill Kurelic (@Bill_Kurelic) August 19, 2022

 

Ohio State commit Will Smith (91) pulls and makes key block on short TD run. pic.twitter.com/70BD58pOsE

— Bill Kurelic (@Bill_Kurelic) August 19, 2022