Will Johnson Is The Nation's Top Cornerback
Will Johnson has long been the crown jewel of Michigan's 2022 class, but he might be even better than people thought.
After spending nearly a week down in Florida for the Under Armour All-American game, Johnson has been getting even higher praise than he did while he was competing at Grosse Pointe South. So much so, that Rivals.com now has Johnson as the No. 1 cornerback in the entire country and the No. 5 overall player nationally in its final rankings.
Rivals.com national analyst Adam Gorney and Mid-Atlantic area analyst Adam Friedman both gave Johnson glowing reviews after seeing him in a game setting in person for the first time.
"Michigan signee Will Johnson was so good all week it would have been tough not to move him to No. 1 at the position," Gorney said. "He was one of the biggest surprises of the all-star season. He has excellent size but does not lack fluidity or the ability to break on passes and trust his vision to make plays. He was the best cornerback at the Under Armour Game against some talented receivers, he was consistently dominant all week and a bump to the top-rated cornerback was warranted."
"At 6-2, Will Johnson wowed the analyst team in Orlando with his ability to stick with small, quick receivers at his size. It was one of the only times in his career he was really under the microscope and he impressed," Friedman added.
Johnson is already in Ann Arbor and is sporting the No. 2 like another decent cornerback who played at U-M. Seeing Johnson out on the field in that jersey, likely making plays as a true freshman is going to be a beautiful thing for Michigan fans. With Vincent Gray out at Michigan, Johnson is going to have a chance to not only play, but start immediately if he can outperform Gemon Green. It feels like DJ Turner has taken the necessary steps to be a starter heading into the spring but even he isn't cemented in at the top of the depth chart. Both returning cornerbacks were solid for Michigan with Turner being exceptional at times. It's going to be really interesting to see if the rook can beat out Green to start opposite Turner in 2022.
