Quinten Johnson (#11, image via SENTelevision)
Washington (DC) St. John’s safety Quinten Johnson committed to Michigan on Tuesday. He picked the Wolverines over offers from Alabama, Arizona, Maryland, North Carolina, and Penn State, among others.
Johnson is listed at 5’11”, 190 lbs. He claims a 4.48 forty, a 4.17 shuttle, and a 35″ vertical.
RANKINGS
ESPN: 3-star, 79 grade, #38 S
Rivals: 3-star, #24 S
247 Sports: 3-star, 88 grade, #37 S, #486 overall
Hit the jump for more on Johnson’s commitment.
Johnson’s recruitment moved rather quickly. Michigan did not offer him until late May, at which point there was no indication he was heavily interested in being committed to the Wolverines anytime soon. He took an official visit to Ann Arbor roughly three weeks later and the commitment plans were on. He eventually announced on the final day of The Opening.
Johnson has a nice frame for the safety position at Michigan, where the Wolverines will ask him to do a fair amount of man coverage. He has quick feet, can open up and run, and can change direction. He high-points the ball well, and he has some playmaking ability with the ball in his hands. He plays wide receiver, punt returner, and some quarterback for St. John’s, which is a pretty talent-laden program.
On the negative side, Johnson is a little tentative when coming up to support the run, and he stops his feet on contact too often. His backpedal could also use some work.
Overall, Johnson is a good fit for Michigan, largely due to those man coverage skills in a safety’s body. He’s built a lot like current senior safety Tyree Kinnel, but Johnson is a little better athlete. Johnson has mentioned that Michigan wants him to start out at strong safety before possibly moving him to Viper, but I don’t really see a Viper, where players are usually very physical as well as being athletic freaks. Johnson is too tentative for my liking there, and he would need to get significantly stronger.
Michigan now has 19 commits in the 2019 class, including three defensive backs: Johnson, CB D.J. Turner II, and Viper Joey Velazquez. Michigan does not get many players from D.C., and Johnson would be the first from St. John’s. The last District of Columbia project to play at Michigan was safety Cato June in the early 2000s. Michigan did have a commitment from St. John’s QB Kevin Doyle briefly in the 2018 class, but he ended up signing with Arizona.
Michigan only has 11 seniors scheduled to graduate, so the coaching staff is expecting a lot of attrition if they want to squeeze 19+ players into the 2019 class. There are some obvious candidates to leave early for the NFL Draft (Rashan Gary, Shea Patterson, Lavert Hill, David Long, etc.), but that still wouldn’t cover the gap between 11 and 19 (or more).
TTB Rating: 79 (ratings explanation)
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Not sure I get the point of all the shifting linemen, then going downfield while your center and guard just stand around back there over by the sideline.
He does come down hill a couple times around 4:00. Once like a rocket on a completion in front of him, then he does a nice job picking a hole on a blitz for a tackle on a pretty big back about one yard deep. But, he doesn’t look like a kid that wants to take your head off.
Speed is always a good thing and this kid has some.
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It’s all eye candy to try to distract you from the downfield shot. You can also throw it out to the eligible receiver by the C/G and have them lead block for him.
You can confuse the crap out of high school kids with these funky formations.
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Looks like a good athlete but I also can’t see future Vipor in him. I kept reading about how aggressive he is but I don’t see much. Don’t get me wrong, I like to see good ball skills but the lack of hard hits reminds me of Myles Sims from last year. If he intercepts 5 passes and defends another 15 I’m not complaining. I’d probably give him a lower rating on your scale; 72.
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[…] SafetyClass: FreshmanJersey number: N/ALast year: Johnson was a senior in high school (LINK). He made 35 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 2 interceptions, 1 fumble recovery returned for […]
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