The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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AUGUST 2018 THE WOLVERINE 65 COMMITMENT PROFILE W a s h i n g t o n ( D . C . ) S t . J o h n ' s C o l l e g e H i g h three-star safety Quinten John- son visited Michigan last Sep- tember and hoped to pick up an offer while on campus. The 5-11, 190-pounder left empty handed, but that changed on the second day of June, and Johnson was ecstatic about it. "It's been in the works for a while, but [coach] Pep [Hamil- ton] made it official," Johnson explained. "He wanted it to be more personal. "They were waiting for Coach [Jim] Harbaugh to come down and do it, but after Ala- bama offered me they just de- cided to do it too." Once offered in early June, the No. 24 safety in the coun- try wasted no time getting up to Ann Arbor. He officially vis- ited U-M in late June and was ready to pull the trigger by the time he left. He waited until after The Opening Finals, but he knew he was a Wolverine by the time he left Ann Arbor. "I fell in love with Michigan when I was up there," Johnson said. "I committed more for the academic side of the school, the program, and the people they have in place. They build men and have a great career program. "They have a great academic sup- port team. I plan on going into the business school and eventually going to law school. Network-wise, they have a really large alumni base. Once you graduate from Michigan you can go work wherever you want." Johnson also loves what he'll be able to do on the field at Michigan. He's very attracted to defensive coordinator Don Brown's aggressive scheme and believes he'll fit into it perfectly. "On the football side of it, they laid out a lot of different steps that they see for my transition to college and the next level," he said. "They want me to come in and play early as a rover and — depending on how I pick up the defense — viper. "They want me to play a lot of the same positions that Jabrill Peppers did. They want me to play all over and even some on offense. "I really think that's the best fit for me because it allows me to play corner, nickel, safety, blitz and play in space. It al- lows me to transition a lot. I like playing closer to the box and to work in a lot of different schemes." Rivals.com Mid-Atlantic re- cruiting analyst Adam Fried- man also sees a very good fit for Johnson at Michigan under Brown's tutelage. "Johnson is a versatile pros- pect that relies on his football instincts to make big plays," Friedman said. "He is a very intelligent player that is fun- damentally sound and is also as physical as defensive backs come. Expect Michigan to take advantage of Johnson's versa- tility as often as they can. "Digesting Michigan's play- book could be the only thing holding him back from seeing the field. Working closer to the line of scrimmage is really in John- son's wheelhouse because he is much better running downhill than back- pedaling as a pure safety." Last season, Johnson was honored as a All-Washington Catholic Athletic Conference second-team selection. The versatile safety posted the top Nike Football Rating — which measures a player 's power, agility, speed, explosiveness, and overall athleticism — at the Las Vegas re- gional of The Opening. He recorded a 4.48 40-yard dash and a 35.1-inch vertical jump en route to a score of 125.70, which was the eighth best in the country. Johnson also excels on the track and has a personal record of 11.2 in the 100-meter dash. — Brandon Brown Long-Awaited Offer Led To A Quick Pledge By Quinten Johnson Johnson's Nike Football Rating — which measures a player's power, agility, speed, explosiveness and overall athleticism — of 125.70 was the top mark at the Las Vegas regional of The Opening and the eighth best in the country. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM FILM EVALUATION Strengths: Quinten Johnson has excellent speed and is very strong for some- one his size. He has a really good skill set to excel at viper in Don Brown's scheme and doesn't really have a weakness on defense. He's not a true cover guy, but he should be able to handle the hybrid position does in Brown's defense. Areas Of Improvement: Covering won't be priority No. 1 for Johnson as a viper, but he'll need to improve there. He's better than everyone in high school, but in college that won't be the case. Covering bigger tight ends and shiftier backs and slot receivers could give him trouble if he doesn't work on it at U-M. Michigan Player Comparison: He's not as elite athletically as Jabrill Peppers, but Johnson has a similar build at 5-11, 190 pounds. He's very muscular, strong, fast and versatile. He should be able to play the viper role on defense a lot like Peppers did. He's got the skill set to blitz effectively, cover when he needs to and make tackles in space. — Analysis from TheWolverine.com Johnson "I fell in love with Michi- gan when I was up there. I committed more for the academic side of the school, the program, and the people they have in place. They build men and have a great career program."