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Ohio State Football: Buckeyes land four-star defensive end

By Ryan Stano

Lawrence Central Joshua Mickens (7) does some warm up drills during Cathedral vs Lawrence Central at the IHSAA Football S6 Sectional Championship, Nov 4, 2022; Indianapolis, IN, at Lawrence Central High School.High School Football Hs Football Sectional Final Cathedral At Lawrence Central Cathedral Fighting Irish At Lawrence Central Bears
Lawrence Central Joshua Mickens (7) does some warm up drills during Cathedral vs Lawrence Central at the IHSAA Football S6 Sectional Championship, Nov 4, 2022; Indianapolis, IN, at Lawrence Central High School.High School Football Hs Football Sectional Final Cathedral At Lawrence Central Cathedral Fighting Irish At Lawrence Central Bears /
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Today is National Signing Day for the early signing period. This has turned into the most important day in recruiting. Regular Signing Day doesn’t hold as much weight anymore, and that’s true for the Ohio State football program as well. They are looking at a lot of recruits to sign today.

One of the targets who emerged late in the process is defensive end Joshua Mickens. Mickens is a four-star defensive end from Indianapolis out of Lawrence Central High School. He chose the Buckeyes over LSU after de-committing from them late last month.

Mickens is a guy that stands at 6’5 225 and has good size at the defensive end position. He’s also someone that has a lot of speed coming off the edge and can quickly get to the quarterback. Ohio State is glad to land a defensive end for this class that has that kind of speed.

Mickens had been shooting up Ohio State’s radar in recent months and was the favorite to lock him up. Mickens isn’t the only defensive end that the Ohio State football program is hoping to add today as they are waiting on two other commitments as well.

Ryan Day has to be pleased to at least get Mickens. Mickens is someone who has a good chance to play in a couple of years, especially after getting some coaching from Larry Johnson. He’s a guy that will make an impact in the pass rush more than the run game.

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I’m really interested to see how fast Mickens can earn playing time. Even though he doesn’t have the gaudy recruiting profile of past defensive ends, I think he can be a valuable piece for this Ohio State football program in the coming years. He’s going to be making plays sooner rather than later in my opinion.

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