Armstead enjoys time in Los Angeles

Elk Grove (Calif.) Pleasant Grove two way lineman Armond Armstead spent the whole weekend in Los Angeles this past weekend. Armstead took unofficial visits to USC and UCLA on Friday and then attended each schools one day camp Saturday and Sunday.

Armstead, 6-6, 290 pounds is one of the fastest rising prospects out West after a monster showing at the NorCal NIKE Camp. The lineman worked out with the defensive linemen and dominated the camp with his blend of size, speed and power.

The lineman played tight end and defensive end a year ago but likely projects best as a defensive tackle or offensive tackle. Armstead has made no secret for his affinity to the defensive side of the ball but his upside as a future left tackle is very hard to miss.

As for this past weekend, Armstead said he loved his time in Los Angeles and could be hearing about a possible offer from both schools within the week.

"On Friday, I visited USC first and then headed over to UCLA," Armstead said. "Both visits were pretty similar, I took a campus and met and talked with the different coaches. I really can't say that I liked one better than the other. Both places were very different but I liked them about the same.

"It's funny, the campuses are nice but the surrounding areas are so different, it's hard to believe both are in Los Angeles. The coaches all treated me great and I thought I bonded well with each staff."

On Saturday, Armstead took part in UCLA's one day camp.

"I thought I did OK but I feel like I could have done a lot better," Armstead said. "My main goal of going down there was to show the coaches what I could do as a defensive lineman. They really like me as an offensive lineman and I prefer defense so I wanted to show them I was worth an offer as a defensive player and I hope I did that.

"The only downside was I had to leave the camp early because we had some family to visit so I left before one on ones started. That's really my strong point and where I feel like I can show what I can do. In all the camps I've been to, I really haven't been stopped yet in the one on ones but hopefully they liked me from what they saw.

"I really liked working with their DL coach, Coach Howard a lot. He's a really smart coach and you can tell he knows what he's talking about. He taught me a lot and I learned some new pass rush moves from him. He's a cool guy and I also liked Coach Dorrell a lot as well. They said they'll let me know Monday or Tuesday about an offer so hopefully I get one.

"Sunday was the USC camp and that was a lot of fun too. The coaches at SC are so passionate and high energy that it was really incredible being out there. They pushed me hard all day and I played as hard as I could. They got me so pumped up that I played with an energy that I've never felt before.

"Even Coach Carroll was yelling and screaming before the camp started and getting everyone all excited. As for how I did, I felt I had a great camp and didn't lose once during the one on ones.

"The original going in to the camp was for me to spend half the day at defensive line and the other half as an offensive lineman. I asked Coach Seto and Coach Holt halfway through if I should switch to offense and they both said to stay on defense so that was good.

"It was funny, on my visit there Friday, Coach Ruhl, the offensive line coach told me I was a future 4th round pick on defense but a 1st round pick on offense. Rocky set I played awesome so we'll see about an offer. He said they're going to meet as a staff on Thursday and let me know if I have one or not so I'll be waiting to see how it goes with both schools.

"Right now, even if one of those two or both offer, I'm still going to take my time with the decision. I feel like I owe it to the schools that have already offered me to visit them and give them a shot. Plus I want to see first hand what they have to offer and it could be that one of those schools is the best fit for me.

"My visits will be unofficial because I do want to commit before school starts. I want to visit Arizona, Arizona State, Texas A&M, Michigan and Nebraska and just spend a day at each of them. After that, I should be ready to commit.

"If I had to name a top five and it was assuming I had offers from both L.A schools, my five would be USC, UCLA, San Diego State, Washington and Arizona."