Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson spent a portion of his media day on Tuesday hyping up defensive end Zach Harrison.

Harrison was a former 5-star recruit out of Ohio in the 2019 class and was ranked as the top player in the state during that class, per 247Sports Composite. He also was the 12th ranked recruit in the country overall for the class.

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Johnson has been loving his confidence at fall camp thus far and said:

“He’s more confident right now,” Johnson said. “He’s playing much faster at the pace we like to play at. His leadership is off the charts right now. But he put the work in. He’s 270 (pounds). He probably played last year at around 255. So he’s a bigger, stronger guy going into his junior year.”

Harrison still has some work to do if he does want to live up to that ranking in 247Sports. He only had 14 total tackles last season (6 solo) with 2 sacks and 1 fumble recovery. His 2019 season was a bit better, but again, not up to par. He had just 24 total tackles (14 solo) with 3.5 sacks.

He’ll have a chance to prove Johnson right when the Buckeyes open their season on Sept. 2 against Minnesota.