LSU Nabs Running Back Armoni Goodwin From Neighboring Alabama

Armoni Goodwin, the shifty running back out of Hewitt-Trussville, Trussville, AL, is heading to Baton Rouge.

Running back Armoni Goodwin will join Ed Orgeron’s Tigers, amidst a recent conversation college football fans are having about the self-imposed sanctions of that football program. Orgeron and staff, though, remain focused on what partially brought them to the big dance last year, and that is recruiting. 

Earlier today, LSU signed the sixth-ranked interior defensive lineman in this 2021 LSU class, and its momentum continues still. Armoni will bring some serious big-play ability with him to the Tigers, and has an excellent feel for the position of running back.

Goodwin is a sturdy 5-foot-8, 190 pounds. Goodwin ran a 10.78 as an eighth-grader and has several sub-11.0 times in the 100-meter dash since then. That long speed shows up on film, with Goodwin showing the ability to outrun defenses if he gets the edge or gets a step in space.

Apart from his straight-line speed, he can start and stop on a dime, and knows how to avoid tacklers based on timing and rhythm, not just because he’s faster than them. He’s got great eyes and trusts his reads. In high school, Goodwin operated in a spread offense running attack similar to that of LSU’s current one.

Goodwin uses his lack of height to his advantage, showing patience and staying behind his blockers until he's ready to explode vertically. His feet never stop moving, which combines with his lower body strength to make him an excellent finisher in the run game. He played in Alabama's highest classification (7A), and still, there probably was never a faster player on the field than him. 

Goodwin at one point was committed to the Auburn Tigers, but decommitted on Nov. 30, 2020. Guz Malhzan was dismissed from Auburn over this past weekend. 

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