Wayne grad ‘offically’ a Buckeye

Offensive lineman Joshua Padilla has black stripe removed from helmet, a rite of passage for freshmen

Joshua Padilla is “officially” a Buckeye.

The true freshman offensive lineman from Wayne High School had the black stripe removed from his helmet recently at practice, a rite of passage at Ohio State for the past decade-plus.

“We got a tough guy that keeps his head down, goes to work, doesn’t say anything and just grinds,” Ohio State director of player development C.J. Barnett is shown saying in a clip posted on social media by OSU. “The newest member of the O-line, Josh Padilla!”

Padilla was a four-star recruit in the class of 2023. He ranked No. 228 nationally among all recruits in the 247Sports Composite and No. 11 in Ohio.

He was a tackle at Wayne but is being groomed as a center for the Buckeyes, who are in their final week of preseason camp and getting set to prepare for the season-opening game at Indiana on Sept. 2.

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