The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1451622
2022 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE 32 THE WOLVERINE MARCH 2022 WILL JOHNSON CORNERBACK 6-3 • 190 GROSSE POINTE SOUTH H.S. DETROIT, MICH. RANKINGS STARS NAT. POS. STATE ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ 18 2 1 ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ 32 4 1 ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ 35 4 1 ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ 5 1 1 ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ 22 4 1 consensus STATISTICS Year Tackles TFL INT Sacks 2021 45 3.5 1 1 HONORS • Two-time Detroit Free Press and De- troit News Dream Team member. • Semifinalist for the Maxwell Club High School Defensive Player of the Year. • 2021 Michigan Player of the Year by the Detroit News. • Invited to the Under Armour All- American Game as a senior and re- corded two tackles. • Second-team defensive back for the 2020 MaxPreps Junior All-America team. • Second-team all-purpose player on the 2019 MaxPreps Sophomore All- America squad. RECRUITMENT • Pledged to Michigan Feb. 28, 2021, after picking up his offer from the Maize and Blue in Feb. 2019. • Was the second commit in the class. • Picked U-M over other notable of- fers from USC, Alabama, Notre Dame and Florida. DID YOU KNOW? • Is an early enrollee at Michigan. • Played both sides of the ball for Grosse Pointe South, recording 1,302 all-purpose yards receiving, rushing and returning punts as a senior; scored one punt-return touchdown and aver- aged 19.3 yards per return; and caught 42 passes for 667 yards with six touch- downs. As a junior, he caught 37 passes for 600 yards and eight touchdowns. • His father, Deon, was a defensive back at Michigan and was part of three Big Ten championship-winning teams from 1990-94. • The first four-year varsity starter in Grosse Pointe South history. • Born March 29, 2003. Johnson experienced another bump in the road — the potential departure of his head coach. Harbaugh was rumored to be a candi- date for NFL vacancies with the Las Vegas Raiders, Miami Dolphins, Chicago Bears, New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings. What was supposed to be an offseason filled with momentum following a suc- cessful campaign soon turned into chaos. While reports of Harbaugh's intentions were all over the place, he was upfront with Johnson about the possibility of leaving Ann Arbor. "I knew he was thinking about it be- cause he wanted a chance to win a Su- per Bowl," Johnson said. "Now, he's back, and he's happy to be here. We're taking it day-by-day and do- ing what we can do as players to have a great season again." Jo h n s o n a d d e d that he was never nervous about the Harbaugh situation. He committed to Michigan for more than just the head coach, and was used to the ebbs and flows of changes around a major football program from his recruiting experience. "I wouldn't say I was nervous because he pretty much let us know that he was looking to have the opportunity to leave," Johnson said. "I was happy to have him back. It turned out well." Some have speculated that the Har- baugh-NFL saga had a negative impact on the team over the last month. How- ever, Johnson said Harbaugh's candor definitely helped the situation. "It was always good that he was hon- est," Johnson said. "No matter what I asked him, he let me know." Michigan did lose both coordinators this offseason, but the staff is mostly back intact. Harbaugh promoted from within on the offensive side of the ball and brought in Jesse Minter from Vanderbilt to fill the defensive coordina- tor role left vacant by Macdonald. Continuity was important to Har- baugh during the hiring process, and Johnson is excited the staff is still to- gether. "It's good because they had a great sea- son last year," Johnson said. "We're look- ing to build off of it this year and be even better." Johnson doesn't have familiarity with Minter — who, like Macdonald, spent time with the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL — but is happy Harbaugh brought in some- one familiar with last year's defensive at- tack. "I know he's from the Ravens, too, s o i t's a s i m i l a r scheme," Johnson said. "I'm expecting it to be really simi- lar. I'm just looking forward to learning more about the de- fense for spring ball, wh i c h i s co m i n g soon." T h e a g g re s s ive scheme should ben- efit Johnson. The No. 18 overall recruit nationally in the 2022 recruiting cycle, Johnson is at his best when play- ing press man and locking down one side of the field. He can play a traditional outside corner role as a true freshman, but also has the ver- satility and football IQ to move around the secondary. Either way, expectations are sky high for Johnson in his first year with the pro- gram. A dynamic athlete, Johnson fin- ished his senior season with 45 tackles, 12 pass breakups and one interception. He also accumulated more than 1,300 all- purpose yards and scored seven touch- downs, making him one of the most dan- gerous two-way high school players in America. "He's the spark plug," said South head coach Tim Brandon. "He was a four-year starter in our program. He's the player the kids all followed. He was one of our biggest leaders. "He has great awareness and a great IQ. He can do it all. We moved him around and got him the ball on offense. I think he's going to walk into Michigan and be a first-year starter. He's a proto- typical college — and maybe even NFL 2022 Projection Johnson should as a true fresh- man. The Grosse Pointe South product is an early enrollee and could win the starting cornerback spot left behind by NFL-bound Vin- cent Gray. The 6-3, 190-pounder has experience playing all over the secondary at the high school level and could contribute at safety as well. Prior to enrolling, Johnson took in U-M practices on a near weekly basis and has a deeper un- derstanding of the college game than most freshmen. Even if he doesn't win a starting cornerback spot, Johnson is too good to keep off the field early.