Tag: Quinten Johnson

2021 Season Countdown: #57 Quinten Johnson

Name: Quinten Johnson
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 200 lbs.
High school: Washington (DC) St. John’s
Position: Safety
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #14
Last year: I ranked Johnson #52 and said he would be a backup safety (LINK). He played in two games on special teams.
TTB Rating: 79

Johnson is a player who has had a fair amount of adversity in his career, especially for someone who has only played in two games for his career. He suffered a knee injury as a freshman, causing him to miss the entire year. Brought in to be a Viper in Don Brown’s defense, he bounced back and forth between Viper and safety. And now with an entirely new defensive staff that doesn’t employ a Viper-type player, he has to re-invent himself as a safety only.

The outlook for 2021 doesn’t look great for Johnson, although the transfer of frequently used backup Hunter Reynolds (Utah State) does open up a small window. Daxton Hill and Brad Hawkins return as starters at safety, but the primary backup in 2020 was Makari Paige, who also returns. Add in Sammy Faustin, Jalen Perry, R.J. Moten, Jordan Morant, and others, and there’s a lot of competition to get on the field. Johnson will have a tough time getting on the field on defense, but I do believe he has the skill set to be used on special teams a fair amount.

Prediction: Backup safety, special teamer

2020 Season Countdown: #52 Quinten Johnson

Name: Quinten Johnson
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 198 lbs.
High school: Washington (DC) St. John’s
Position: Safety
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #23
Last year: I ranked Johnson #68 and said he would redshirt (LINK). He redshirted.
TTB Rating: 79

Johnson suffered an unfortunate knee injury in 2019, which cut off any arguments about whether he would see time in the defensive backfield.

The debate about his position can continue, though. His listed weight of 198 pounds is still light for Viper, but there were questions about whether he would stick at safety or end up playing the hybrid outside linebacker/safety position. I think he will play safety, and he’s listed as a defensive back. Senior Brad Hawkins and sophomore Daxton Hill are entrenched as the starting safeties, so Johnson has a chance to work in with the second unit so he could potentially take over Hawkins’s job in 2021. I think some of the older players will maintain their leg up, especially since Johnson didn’t have much of a chance to develop in 2019, but we should at least see him on some special teams this year.

Prediction: Backup safety, special teamer

Final TTB Ratings for 2019

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I know it’s a little bit late in the game, but back in the spring, I didn’t have time to review all the senior film for Michigan’s 2019 signees and give them updated TTB Ratings. I did that during the 2019 Season Countdown, so here are the final TTB Ratings for the class of 2019.

S Daxton Hill: 100
He’s the best safety in the class, though it’s an unimpressive safety class overall.

RB Zach Charbonnet: 83 90
As long as he can get/stay healthy, Charbonnet has the potential to be a high draft pick in the future.

DT Chris Hinton, Jr.: 90
He should be an early contributor with high long-term upside.

Hit the jump for more.

2019 Season Countdown: #68 Quinten Johnson

Name: Quinten Johnson
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 193 lbs.
High school: Washington (DC) St. John’s
Position: Safety
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: N/A
Last 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 a TD, and 3 forced fumbles.
TTB Rating: 79

Johnson committed to Michigan last July and stuck with the Wolverines throughout, despite not publicly signing his National Letter of Intent until January. There has been some scuttlebutt about his playing Viper at the next level, but he’s a safety prospect as well. With the way Michigan has deployed defensive backs over the past few seasons, I imagine he will start off at safety with some long-term potential to play Viper, depending on how his body develops.

This season the Viper spot is in good hands with Khaleke Hudson, Jordan Glasgow, Michael Barrett, and potentially freshman 5-star recruit Daxton Hill. With Hudson and Glasgow departing after 2019, there’s also some buzz that safeties Brad Hawkins and/or J’Marick Woods could move to Viper for 2020. I think Johnson would be best served by redshirting, but safeties are a weird deal; they can play special teams and potentially play a lot of roles in sub packages. If Michigan stays healthy in the secondary, I think Johnson will redshirt, but he has enough athleticism to get some time against the right team or if somebody gets nicked.

Prediction: Redshirt

Senior Highlights: Quinten Johnson