Will Johnson is the best player in college football — or at least in the “College Football 25” video game. And while deciding the true best player in the sport isn’t as simple as picking the one with the highest video game rating, the junior cornerback’s game-best 96 overall gets at how much he brings to the Michigan football team.
Johnson is a bona fide star, a predicted first round NFL Draft pick and a nightmare for opposing number one receivers. At Big Ten Media Day Thursday, Wolverines coach Sherrone Moore called him “the best corner in college football” — slightly less lofty than best overall player, but high praise nonetheless. When Michigan’s opponents game plan for the Wolverines’ defense this season, figuring out how to attack him will be a top priority.
One star cornerback doesn’t make an entire secondary, though. Michigan still needs other players to step up alongside Johnson, making sure that its foes can’t just avoid him altogether. Moore thinks that he has plenty of options who can line up alongside Johnson and make that happen.
“Opposite of (Johnson) could be a number of guys,” Moore said. “The guy right now looks like (sophomore Jyaire Hill) but (senior Aamir Hall) obviously came in, (graduate Ricky Johnson) has come in. (Junior Myles Pollard) is making a push to get better, so we’re excited about all those corners and we’ve got a lot of depth there.”
Hill won plenty of praise for his performance in spring camp from teammates and coaches alike, and will look to translate that onto the field this fall. Hall and Johnson, meanwhile, are two of the newest additions to the fold for the Wolverines, added via the transfer portal this spring from Albany and UNLV, respectively.
Hall is likely the more exciting of the two, having racked up accolade after accolade in his final season with the Great Danes. He earned places on the All-CAA First Team and the FCS All-American Second Team, playing in every game for Albany and picking off five passes while breaking up 15 more. Making the jump from FCS and Group of Five schools to the Big Ten poses a challenge, though, and Moore looks forward to seeing how Hall and Johnson continue to handle the adjustment.
“Those guys have been great, and you find out more about them when they get the pads on and there’s a little adversity and you get beat once,” Moore said. “You need that to see how they’re gonna react because in a game that’s gonna happen. What’s the next play gonna look like?”
While Moore may not know everything about his cornerbacks quite yet, he has a good sense of the depth he has at safety, even with the loss of graduate Rod Moore to injury. Graduates Makari Paige and Quinten Johnson both were contributors in the secondary last season, and junior Zeke Berry emerged in spring camp as well. As the new cornerbacks begin to adjust, the deep group of safeties should help to shore up the defense in the meantime.
As is the case with plenty of position groups for the Wolverines this season, the defensive backs room will look different than last year and may experience the growing pains that come with that. But with one of the best players in college football in Johnson leading the way, and plenty of potential depth behind him, Sherrone has lots to be confident in.
The post Michigan secondary filled with depth, highlighted by Will Johnson appeared first on The Michigan Daily.
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