Loaded Jones defensive line looks so good it’s unfair, plus commits | Football Insider

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It’s almost unfair to see the the defensive front that Jones High will put on the football field this season.

The Tigers, Class 4A state runners-up in each of the past two seasons, have been formidable with four-star defensive end Fred Ards and his friends.

But in addition to Ards, who is committed to Texas A&M, Jones has added three new friends. Noah Robinson (from Ocala Vanguard), Dajour Webb (from Pittsburgh) and Braylon Otis (from Syracuse, N.Y.) all moved to Orlando this offseason and fell right into the lap of Jones coach Elijah Williams. To look at them standing side-by-side causes one’s jaw to drop. They’re big, obviously athletic, and they don’t look as if they play nice on the football field.

Saturday at the Central Florida Media Days at 407 Sports, I told three of the players — Ards, Robinson and Webb (Otis was absent) — that the four-man front needed a nickname. We tossed around a few ideas, but nothing really stuck. I finally came up with the 4ROCIOUS4 on Sunday and the quartet agreed it suited them.

Orlando-area 2026 High School Football Transfer Tracker

So be it, and it seems fitting, because lining up against what instantly became possibly the best four-man front in the state, will be quite intimidating.

Jones has a front line of players who are committed to three Big 12 schools: Texas A&M (Ards), UCF (Robinson) and West Virginia (Webb) along with Syracuse (Otis) of thje ACC. Four Power-4 linemen. It’s unheard in Orlando football, and it leaves Ards, the lone hometown boy of the bunch, drooling about the possibilities.

Ards, 6-foot-5, 245 pounds, comes off the edge and is the No. 1-ranked player in the Sentinel’s 2027 Central Florida Super60. He said he never imagined he would have three other linemen of this caliber joining him.

“No sir, but thanks to God, they’re here. I’m blessed. They just came out of nowhere, and now we’re fixin’ to take over,” Ards said. “We’re hungry, dawgs, fearless. We might be the Gravediggers or something like that.”

Coaches, especially Tim Shifflet, sound off on transfers at Central Florida Media Day 2

Ards liked that nickname, but it was shot down.

Webb was initially thought to be headed to The First Academy when he moved to town, but he ended up at Jones. The 6-1, 335-pound tackle is ranked No. 11 in the 2027 Super60.

“This defensive line is very strong, very fast, very quick off the ball and I think one of the best defensive lines in Central Florida,” Webb said.

As for the nickname, Webb said, “It can’t be named. It’s too powerful.”

The 6-3, 275-pound Robinson is ranked No, 7 in the 2027 Super60.

“I describe it as aggressive, physical, and we got speed and we’re gonna really be great this year,” Robinson said.

Robinson will become the hometown boy next year when he walks on the campus of UCF.

“I feel great about UCF,” Robinson said. “It’s a great program. Coach Martin (D-line coach Kenny), he’s a good guy. Coach Frost (head coach Scott) is a great guy. I just love the program and I’m excited to be joining them in December.

“I always wanted to stay close to home, but I ain’t gonna lie, at one point I did want to go far away. But staying close to home, my parents and my family can come to my games and that’s a dream come true.”

Buffalo getting serious in Orlando

The University of Buffalo coaching staff has hit the Orlando area hard this offseason, handing out scholarship offers to a number of locals and landing a pair. Lake Nona 2027 defensive tackle Darren White-Jackson has committed to the Bulls, as has 2028 Lake Brantley quarterback Jackson Stecher, a huge get for Buffalo.

“I feel amazing. Buffalo definitely put their front foot forward with me and took initiative by calling the dean of engineering, which is my major, so that was a huge thing for me,” White-Jackson said. “They definitely persuaded me.”

The transfer portal effected White-Jackson’s train of thought when it came to choosing a school.

“It was a big thing for me, I would like to play early,” said White-Jackson, who is 6-2, 290. “They like my size and they don’t have too many D-tackles who are my size, so that’s a good thing.”

Rhode Island lands top tight end

There are plenty of high school seniors who are realizing the NCAA transfer portal has changed the way colleges recruit high school players, and it’s changed how the players should view their next steps.

Lake Brantley’s Stecher committing to Buffalo is a good example of a player who eyes getting on the field early and showing off his skills so he can, down the road, possibly get in the transfer portal and end up joining a bigger, more lucrative program.

St. Cloud’s Owen Sullivan certainly had that in mind when he recently committed to Rhode Island, an FCS school in the Coastal Athletic Association. It was a surprising choice for the best tight end in Central Florida, but besides the fact that he fell in love with the school during his visit, he was also looking at his future.

“When I went up, I really didn’t know where I wanted to go yet, because it was still early in the process,” said Sullivan, a 6-4, 210-pound pass catcher with the softest hands around. “But they showed me a lot of love, made me feel at home and told me a lot of things that I was looking for during the recruiting process and it made me feel like it was the right choice.”

Sullivan is caught in a bit of a recruiting abyss in St. Cloud, where a lot of college recruiters fail to visit in the spring because it is not exactly a convenient destination. He’s not really a known commodity, so he’ll have to work for everything he gets. Of his 12 scholarship offers, only two of them — Arkansas State and Kent State — are FBS programs.

Sullivan knows that if he can get on the field at Rhode Island, and compile some impressive film, then the other schools might come calling.

“Definitely growing up, my thought process was always about going to a G-5 or P-4 school, but I think that God has a plan for me, and if that’s the case, he will show me that in the near future,” Sullivan said. “It was definitely a big part of my (line of thinking), getting on the field early, and if the transfer portal comes and that’s the right choice, then that’s something I’m willing to sit down and talk to Coach Flem (head coach Jim Fleming) about.

“I agree that the transfer portal did affect a lot of my recruitment because the coaches can easily just go take a 6-3 tight end (in the portal) who is already built and already developed.”

Chris Hays can be found on X.com@OS_ChrisHays.

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