Three (over)reactions from blue-chip OT Julian Armella’s film

The only way to fix Florida State football is with some fresh talent coming in. I wrote an (over)reactions piece earlier in the year about FSU’s, hopefully to be, future quarterback Luke Altmyer. Every good quarterback needs a left tackle to protect him though and with that, we’re looking to a legacy.

If you somehow haven’t already heard about him, let me introduce you to Julian Armella, 4-star OT and rated as the 137 player in the composite for the 2022 class, of Columbus High School in Miami. Our own NoleThruandThru is the conductor of the Armella hype train, but I wanted to take a look at a couple of clips from Armella’s opening game Hudl film and overact to what we see.

So let’s dive on in.

Technique

Armella would come to FSU with day one ready technique. You can tell he has advanced technique for a player in their junior year of high school. This advanced technique means when Armella gets on a college campus (hopefully FSU) that he is going to be ahead of the game and ready to contribute. Armella keeps his elbows in and hands ready to strike with good bend in his lower body. Being down in his set allows him to reset on inside moves and play through his legs/explosive muscles. This is something we are starting to see at FSU under Alex Atkins. If Atkins and Armella are able to work together at FSU it could be a very good pairing of coach and player.

Take-off

Have to like the lower half bend with a good first step. This is what it takes to be a good run blocker and then check out the pancake. Can somebody take this young man to IHOP and get him a stack? The FSU OL has improved this year but there is still room for growth. A player like Armella could come in and take this offense to the next level with this type of physical ability and play. Right now the offense is built around a lot of smoke and mirrors. Being able to line up and have a player beat the man across from him would help a lot, and that is a strength for Armella.

Recognition

How many times have we seen a defensive line twist not get picked up and a sack happen? Well, you have to love seeing Armella recognize the end looping in front and understanding that when a player goes in, somebody else must be coming out. He’s communicating well with his guard and they handle the stunt together. This is important as Armella makes the leap to college.

Those are just a couple (over)reactions to Armella’s first game and a glimpse into (hopefully) FSU’s left tackle of the future. You can see the highlight film below.