DE Ja'Marian Peterson is the fourth Louisiana recruit to commit to Arizona
THE SITUATION
Ja’Marian Peterson’s decision is in.
The New Orleans (La.) De La Salle three-star defensive end committed to Arizona on Sunday, signaling the end of a recruitment mildly impacted by the CoVid-19 pandemic. Ole Miss, Indiana, Colorado, Washington State, UCF, Illinois, Boston College, Purdue, Tulane and Memphis were also contenders for the 6-foot-2, 233-pounder.
Peterson currently stands as the No. 28-ranked prospect in The Boot for 2021.
Peterson joins high school teammate and running back Montrell Johnson in the Wildcats’ 2021 recruiting class, which entered the day ranked No. 40 with 17 total commitments. Peterson is the 18th member in the haul and the fourth from Louisiana along with three-star defensive back Kolbe Cage and wide receiver Tyrese Johnson.
IN HIS OWN WORDS
"The relationship with all the coaches, the mail, the motivational text messages and letters it all just gave me really good vibes about Arizona."
"I got the closet to Coach (Stan) Eggen, Coach (Theron) Aych, Coach (Kevin) Sumlin, Coach (Paul) Rhoads and Coach (Jermauria) Rasco. Before they even offered me the scholarship we had a relationship as if I was already on my way to Arizona."
"The decision wasn’t easy at all, but I’m confident I made the right one. There were a few other schools, but as I was going through the my college mail looking at the letters from Coach Eggen and just sitting there reading the letters just gave me a good feeling."
"Me, football wise, at the University of Arizona, I’m seeing Freshman All-American. I think everything will be good academically because they’ll have the support for everyone so it’ll be good."
" I’m good with the university. I’ve been on the the virtual tours and I’ve the beautiful facilities."
RIVALS REACTION
Peterson is a 6-foot-2, 233-pound hybrid edge defender that boasts an 80.75-inch wingspan and 33-inch arms. Both are excellent measurements for the position. He also competes in track and field, throwing shot-put, discus and javelin, with speed in the 4.7-second range.
Peterson is listed as a weak-side defensive end, but also has the ability to line up a stand-up outside linebacker. He has the ability to fill multiple positions at the next level thanks to his quickness off the edge.
What Peterson brings to the table is a noticeable burst off the line. He makes a ton of plays in the run game behind the line of scrimmage and packs a good punch in the process. His quickness is matched only by his short-area burst in pursuit. Peterson is a sure tackler and that pertains to his ability to get out in space or in the flats as well.
Peterson takes advantage of his length when going toe-to-toe with blockers in a pass-rush setting. He must continue to add tools to his arsenal and develop more pass-rush technique, but has plenty a lot of necessary abilities to build upon. Peterson has a tendency to use his 33-inch arms to cloud quarterbacks’ vision and bat down passes at the line and must continue to make use of these innate physical gifts.
Moving forward, Peterson will need to continue to improve his ability to disengage blockers and get more production as a pass-rusher.