Interview: 3-Star 2020 Arizona LB Jeremiah Trojan Talks Football and Recruiting
Written by Ryan Wright
Twitter: @RyanWrightRNG
Jeremiah Trojan was on the fast-track to a tremendous season in 2018 until a nagging shoulder injury slowed his roll on the gridiron. But, in the 6.5 games played, wow. The 6-3, 225-pound, linebacker put an end to 72 plays with 42 solo stops, had seven tackles for a loss, two sacks, and four QB hurries. Air Force liked what they saw in the Class of 2020 Hamilton High School rising star offering him on the field during a visit. Interest for the 4.15 student-athlete has grown outside the Arizona state borders with Purdue, Georgia, Wisconsin, UCLA, and Cal, among others now tracking his progress.
In an RNG exclusive, I sat down with the Chandler area prospect to learn more about his growing skills on the field with an update on his recruiting opportunities.
Interview
Jeremiah, your reel shows a lot of your skill and talents on the field. At this point in your career what are some of the things you feel you do well as a linebacker?
“I am a good run-stop guy. I am good at filling gaps, coming downhill, and occasionally coming off the edge.”
Where there any areas of your game that started off as a weakness but were worked into strengths during the 2018 season?
“Yeah. I’d say my cover skills. Getting to my drops quick and my lateral movement, all that improved.”
Where else did you show improvement in your game during your junior year?
“Some of my other areas of improvement were working half a man verses a lineman, tight end, or running back.”
Your game reel shows you finish plays, I wanted to call you The Finisher, is there anything else you do well on the field that might get overlooked because it does not show up in the stat sheet?
“I watch a lot of film, you can’t play great if you don’t watch film. The little things that make linebackers good at what they do – playing downhill, not side to side, and causing runners going to side line to sideline instead of advancing the ball.”
Going into recruiting. You have the offer from Air Force, which schools are showing interest but have not offered?
“I am receiving interest from Purdue, Cal, UCLA, Rice, Wisconsin and Georgia – I visited there over the summer.”
Have you had a chance to visit any schools yet?
“Yes. I went to Colorado to visit Air Force, that is when they offered me. They offered me on the field. I went to Purdue about a month ago.”
Circling back to the Air Force offer, how cool was that to get offered right there on the field?
“That was the best feeling in the world. It was great to receive my first offer, and I did not know it was coming.”
The Purdue visit, how did that go?
“It was good. We did a photo shoot, I met some of the coaches and talk to them a bit. It was nice out there.”
Do you have any planned visits coming up?
“I plan on visiting UCLA during our next break in about a month. I am planning on going back to Colorado to visit Air Force and I may visit Cal.”
Back to some football questions. On the field during a game, are you a talker?
“I would say so, yeah. But many getting the calls out, getting the defense set up, and all that fun stuff.”
Is there a favorite play of yours from last year?
“Yeah, there were a couple. There were some downfield plays against Brophy and some of my sacks.”
It is early, but what goals have you set for 2019?
“The goal is to bring the team together, to get everyone on the same page. I think that was a problem for us from last year.”
Jeremiah, it was great learning more about you and your game today. I appreciate your time.
“Thank you.”
Photo credit: Trojan family; Jeremiah Trojan at Purdue