Meet the freshmen: Ohio State DB Lejond Cavazos
Player: Lejond Cavazos
Postion: Defensive back.
Fast Facts: 6-1, 196, IMG Academy, Bradenton, Fla.. Four-star recruit. Under Armour All-American.
With Jeff Okudah, Jordan Fuller and Damon Arnette headed to the NFL, and with Amir Riep and Jahsen Wint dismissed from the team, how do you assess your chances to come in and play immediately?
"I'm just going to sieze every opportunity I get and take it day by day."
Did you factor into your decision to come to OSU the success of former Buckeyes in the NFL?
"I talk to Michael Thomas, Marshon Lattimore, all of those guys treat me like family, like we played together. Just knowing that the brotherhood is bigger than what it is just here, that it's expanded to the NFL with people who have already retired, it's honestly a good feeling."
Did those friendships and that contact start once you committed or when you were recruited?
"Definitely once I committed. I came here on one of my visits in the spring and I met all of them, Denzel (Ward), Marshon, Michael, Jerome (Baker), I met a lot of those guys at the spring game. That's when our relationship started building."
How much of a factor in signing with Ohio State was its track record of getting defensive backs taken in the first round of the NFL Draft?
It's definitely big in my mind, knowing that a lot of guys coach (Kerry) Coombs has coached and even coach (Jeff) Hafley, coach (Larry) Johnson, they all coached first-round guys. It's a legacy you have to uplift. The standard is already set to what it is. It's up to all of us to keep it going."
Was that the clincher for you in choosing Ohio State?
"It was more of me just wanting to better myself as a person and as a football player, definitely. Knowing what we have here, with Real Life Wednesdays, let's say football wasn't to work out for me, I know I'll have a job after that, so it was bigger than football for me."
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