Tag: Ari Watford

Social media reacts: Clemson makes a splash landing No.1 edge in 2025 class Ari Watford

Clemson landed the No.1 edge rusher in the 2025 class on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, Clemson football achieved a significant triumph in recruiting as they secured the commitment of Ari Watford, a four-star defensive end and one of the standout edge rushers in the 2025 class.

Hailing from Maury High School in Norfolk, Va., Watford made the decision to join Clemson, opting for the Tigers over prominent competitors such as Ohio State, Penn State, in-state rival South Carolina, and ACC counterparts Virginia Tech and Syracuse.

A huge signing for the Tigers, Watford is one of the top recruits in the country. According to On3’s industry rankings, he is the No.1 edge and the No.21 overall player in the 2025 class. Another huge piece will be joining Clemson’s stacked defensive line.

With the news comes reactions. Here is a look at how X (formerly known as Twitter) reacted to the huge commitment.

Clemson football lands major commitment in four-star DE Ari Watford

Clemson scored a major recruiting victory Wednesday when four-star defensive end Ari Watford, one of the top edge rushers in the class of 2025, committed to the Tigers.

Clemson football scored a major recruiting victory Wednesday when four-star defensive end Ari Watford, one of the top edge rushers in the class of 2025, committed to the Tigers.

Watford (Maury High School, Norfolk, Va.) chose Clemson over Ohio State, Penn State, in-state rival South Carolina, and ACC rivals Virginia Tech and Syracuse.

Listed at 6’6, 220 pounds, Watford is rated the No. 30 overall prospect in the 247Sports composite recruiting rankings for the 2025 class.

He is also rated the top overall recruiting prospect in the state of Virginia, as well as the fourth-best edge rusher in the nation. Watford becomes the fourth prospect from Virginia in the class of 2025 to commit to Clemson.

Clemson had been wooing Watford for several months. He officially received an offer from the school back in June and attended the annual Dabo Swinney Football Camp over the summer.

The recruitment of Watford is a big haul for Swinney and especially new defensive ends coach Chris Rumph. Rumph replaced Lemanski Hall, who was let go as defensive ends coach at the end of last season.

Penn State in top-6 of No. 20 overall class of 2025 recruit

Penn State makes top 6 for Class of 2025 four-star defensive end from Virginia

With the college football season officially over, Penn State can turn their attention towards making necessary upgrades to their roster that will help them compete in the Big Ten and nationally moving forward.

Michigan hoisted the trophy and new conference opponent, Washington, was the opponent.

Adding four teams from the Pac-12 conference puts that much more importance on landing some of the best talent in the country to field a competitive team who can accomplish what their goals are.

That’s why the news coming out that surrounding one of the best players in the class of 2025 was so huge.

On Monday, four-star edge rusher, [autotag]Ari Watford[/autotag], cut his list down to six schools and included the Nittany Lions in that decision.

The others were Ohio State, Clemson, South Carolina, Syracuse and Virginia Tech.

Watford is rated as the No. 20 overall player in the 2025 class according to On3’s industry rankings which takes into account all four of the major recruiting sites. He also is the No. 1 player in Virginia and the best edge rusher in the country.

The 6’5″ 240 pound prospect spoke with Greg Pickel of BlueWhiteIllustrated about Penn State and his recruitment process so far.

“Penn State was cool … I watched practice and everything. Overall, it was a good experience. I like Penn State. I love the D-line coach,” he said after his visit last spring.

Deion Barnes isn’t the only coach who left an impression on Watford, however.

“I love Coach James Franklin. He has a lot of energy. I just think overall, we have a good connection. I would say that about the whole coaching staff,” he told Pickel.

Watford has visited Penn State one time, while he’s been to Virginia Tech three times and Clemson twice.

According to On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine, Virginia Tech is in the lead to land the four-star with a 27.1% chance, while Penn State sits at a 6.0% chance.

There’s still plenty of time left in his recruitment as he won’t commit until after he’s able to take official visits later in the year.

Ohio State football sends out a trio of offers to defensive ends

The Buckeyes were active with offers on Monday #GoBucks

The focus of [autotag]Ohio State football[/autotag] recruiting on Monday was all about defensive ends.

The Buckeye coaching staff sent out three separate offers, one in the 2024 class and two in the 2025 class. In this cycle, Ohio State has three commitments on the defensive line: Justin Scott, Eddrick Houston and Eric Mensah.

Scott will most likely play on the interior, although his skills will allow him to play almost anywhere. As for Houston and Mensah, they’re more of a traditional style defensive end.

Let’s take a look into who was offered and their current statuses in recruiting.

(Note: All rankings references are from the 247Sports composite.)

LSU offers top 10 prospect in 2025 class

LSU’s recruiting staff made a trip north to Norfolk, Virginia, to take a look at one of the top 10 players in the 2025 recruiting class.

LSU’s recruiting staff made a trip north to Norfolk, Virginia, to take a look at one of the top 10 players in the 2025 recruiting class. [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] has found a lot of great edge rushers lately, and this guy can be added to that list.

[autotag]Ari Watford[/autotag] is a 6-foot-5, 220-pound, four-star EDGE who plays for Maury High School. The Maury Commodores finished the 2022 season 10-2 with a loss to Highland Springs in the VHSL Class 5 state championship game.

There are currently no Crystal Ball projections for Watford at this time but Virginia Tech is a 29% favorite to land him per On3.

Film Analysis: Watford is a monster who will earn a five-star ranking before his senior season.

FILM

5-star Ari Watford takes first Tennessee visit

Five-star edge rusher Ari Watford made his first visit to Tennessee. Watford is the No. 1 player in the state of Virginia.

Five-star edge rusher Ari Watford made his first visit to Tennessee on Friday.

The 6-foot-5, 220-pound edge rusher is from Maury High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Watford is the No. 26 overall prospect in the class of 2025. He ranks as the No. 4 edge rusher and No. 1 player in the state of Virginia, according to the 247Sports composite rankings.

He was named a second-team MaxPreps High School Football Sophomore All-American last season. Watford also earned first-team All-Region and first-team All-State honors.

Watford holds over 15 offers from Power Five programs, including Florida State, Georgia, Michigan, USC and Penn State.

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Four-star Ari Watford pulls in an offer from Rutgers football

Ari Watford gets offered by Rutgers football.

Ari Watford’s latest offer came in on Monday night from Rutgers football, putting the Big Ten program in the mix for the talented edge rusher.

A member of the class of 2025, Watford is a 6-foot-5, 220-pound defensive end from Maury High School (Norfolk, VA). He is a four-star according to 247Sports, where he is the second-best recruit in the state and is the No. 51 player in the nation among all ’25 recruits.

With good length, Watford is explosive off the edge. He has a good first step and is powerful. He is a sound tackler who is capable of making plays in the pocket or in pursuit in run defense.

Watford tweeted about the offer from Rutgers on Monday night. He tagged Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano and linebackers coach C.J. Hetherman in the social media post.

He has a strong offer list that includes the likes of Duke, Florida State, Maryland, Michigan, South Carolina, Syracuse and Tennessee among others.

 

It was a busy Monday for Rutgers football as they offered another class of 2025 recruit in Tamez Young. Out of Wharton High School in Tampa, FL, Young is a tight end prospect who held prior offers from South Florida and Toldeo.

 

Vols offer 2025 defensive lineman Ari Watford

Highlights of 2025 defensive line Vols’ target Ari Watford.

Second-year Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel and his coaching staff continue to recruit future Vols.

Tennessee has offered a scholarship to 2025 defensive line prospect Ari Watford.

“I am blessed to say I have received my 14th offer from the University of Tennessee,” Watford announced.

The 6-foot-5, 210-pound Watford is from Salem High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Watford has Power Five offers from Tennessee, Maryland, North Carolina, Penn State, Pittsburgh, South Carolina, Syracuse, Virginia and Virginia Tech.

Below are highlights of Watford.

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