2016 Season Countdown: #96 Dytarious Johnson

Dytarious Johnson

Name: Dytarious Johnson
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 215 lbs.
High school: Prattville (AL) Prattville
Position: Linebacker
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: N/A
Last year: Johnson was a senior in high school (LINK). He made 64 tackles, 3 sacks, and 4 pass breakups.
TTB Rating: 77

Johnson was offered by Michigan during a satellite camp at Prattville High School last June, and he wasted no time in committing. A teammate of running back commit Kingston Davis, Johnson had transferred to Prattville from Selma (AL) Selma prior to his sophomore year. He was a hard-hitting outside linebacker who made some plays in the run game, but also had a titillating interception return for a touchdown on which he showed some nice speed with the ball in his hands. Largely unknown before grabbing the offer from Michigan, I gave him a TTB Rating of 77 after evaluating his film. Statistically, he regressed a bit as a senior, and film is oddly non-existent for his 2015 season.

Adding to the issues for Johnson, he did not make it through the NCAA Clearinghouse by National Signing Day or even by the April 1 deadline to sign a National Letter of Intent. According to the Montgomery Advertiser, the transfer from Selma to Prattville messed with his transcript situation, since the schools had different grading scales. Now it’s unclear whether he will be able to get through the Clearinghouse by the fall and help the team, or if he will perhaps have to go to a junior college or enroll in January. We’re in wait-and-see mode on his eligibility.

As for Johnson’s game, I still like what I saw from him on film as a junior. He’s physical, takes good angles, and is a plus athlete for an inside linebacker at the next level. I think he could fit at either inside linebacker position. My concerns are that film is readily available for most players in this day and age, but Prattville – a school with a good football program – was apparently unable to produce a highlight film for Johnson. That’s a red flag, but maybe something happened with their camera or their Hudl account. His mediocre senior statistics are a bit of a question mark. Were teams running away from him, or was he just not producing? Maybe he missed some time due to injury. Then, of course, there’s the academics issue. So there are a lot of red flags, and to be honest, this many red flags do not generally add up to success at the next level. I have Johnson at #96 because I think it’s going to be hard for him to contribute this season when he can’t start practicing until the fall, and his chances of ever contributing to the Wolverines naturally hinge on whether he can get accepted to a pretty difficult school.

Projection: Redshirt…or JUCO…or something

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