Previously: Last year's profiles. S Quinten Johnson, S Daxton Hill, CB DJ Turner II, CB Jalen Perry, LB Joey Velazquez, LB Anthony Solomon, LB Charles Thomas, DE David Ojabo, DE Gabe Newburg, DE Mike Morris, DT Chris Hinton, DT Mazi Smith, OL Jack Stewart, OL Nolan Rumler, OL Zach Carpenter, OL Karsen Barnhart, OL Trente Jones, OL Trevor Keegan, TE Erick All, WR Giles Jackson.

Stuart, FL – 6'0", 181
		24/7	3*, #1143 overall #98 ATH, #142 FL
		Rivals	3*, 5.6 rating NR FL
		ESPN	3*, 78 rating #62 ATH, #110 FL
		Composite	3*, #876 overall #60 ATH, #119 FL
		Other Suitors	FSU, GT, Oregon, Neb, UVA, UGA
		YMRMFSPA	Steve Breaston, but obscure
Previously On MGoBlog	Hello post from Ace.
Notes	Twitter.
Film
Hudl gone private; a couple of camp things:

George Johnson III is the most obscure member of this recruiting class. Your author has forgotten about him at certain points over the last year. He's ranked in the low three-star range. He's got very little scouting. And he took his Hudl page private for unknown reasons when he's just the kind of player we're inclined to look at and evaluate positively in defiance of The Recruiting Industry. (See: Michael Barrett.)

So… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. But let's see what we can see anyway.

Johnson, like Barrett, gave serious consideration to being a Georgia Tech quarterback under Paul Johnson, which paints a picture. He arrives on campus 40 pounds lighter than Barrett and is thus not headed for middle linebacker, but you can assume Johnson is smart, tough, and unable to throw a football sufficiently well to do it in college. He also fielded offer-type substances from Georgia and FSU; I have my doubts about how sincere those offers were. Johnson's dad on FSU:

“We never intended on him going that far up,” said George Johnson Jr., the father of the Tigers' star athlete. “We wanted a Florida school bad. We would have settled for Florida State if they came earlier, but they slow-played him. There was a four-day stretch when Florida State was involved. If they offered him earlier, I’m not sure he ever would have gone to Michigan.”

The Seminoles did come in just before his commit with something resembling an offer, but whether it was a real one is disputed. Bud Elliott of Tomahawk Nation doesn't think so; Steve Lorenz does.

[After the JUMP: where to put this guy]

As is usually the case with potential triple option QBs, going to a passing-friendly team means moving positions. In Johnson's case the likely destination is the slot. Johnson got a fair bit of work as a receiver over the past couple summers. He played in the slot for his 7-on-7 team and repeatedly drew mention as a "natural at wide receiver" despite his lack of experience. 24/7 named him their MVP of another 7-on-7:

"…caught pass after pass and proved to be a mismatch at wide receiver for opposing linebackers and defensive backs. …more than comfortable with making catches in traffic and knows how to work a route tree."

He worked out at WR at the camps he went to, and it appears that he went to many.

The scouting that does exist on Johnson also points to WR. Nick Baumgardner:

… greatest assets are his feel for space on the field and his ability to cut through and evade defenders with his lateral quickness. … fast enough … ability to find his way out of tight spots is what turns your head. … If he sticks at wide receiver, then Johnson is going to have to become a serious student of route-running nuance.

247's summary: 

"…leaner bodied kid … Elusive, makes defenders miss in the open field and has good burst through creases. … still has learning to do as a route-runner, but his natural athleticism and ball skills show up at the position. … playmaking knack, competitiveness and toughness"

Brandon Brown:

"…extremely fast, very shifty and exceptionally strong for his size. He's got great balance and quickness but his vision to find open space and get into the open field might be his best attribute. He routinely turns short and intermediate runs into very long touchdown jaunts."

We haven't seen Johnson play much defense, so it's possible he brings things to the table there that have gone unmentioned. It does seem like the one thing he's clearly very good at would be eliminated if he plays on the other side of the ball.

The camp thing is a bit of an issue. Here's the rub: Johnson was a prominent player in a talent hotbed who went to a bunch of camps at his projected college position and did not get a rankings bump or more than the occasional reference. The only mention Johnson drew from Rivals after attending multiple camps was actually a player, future Auburn signee Mark-Antony Richards, asserting he was the best running back at their Miami camp because he was "good running routes and catching." (This is what running backs usually do at camps.) No Rivals analyst saw fit to pump him up. The obligatory analyst quote after his commitment is another that doesn't say anything:

"You like that versatility, but the knock on him is that he doesn't really have a natural position."

And so forth and so on. Even though scouting has receded from its peak 4-6 years ago, this is not a guy from East Nowhere, Rhode Island. A lot of people put eyes on Johnson and the conclusion was invariably "meh."

In part this is because he's not a first-off-the-bus guy or a the-stopwatch-says-what guy. Johnson's testing numbers are fine but not in the same range as Jackson. He put up a 4.3 shuttle and a 32 inch vert at a Nike Camp, which are okay. The 40 time cited at 24/7 is 4.55, which is pretty good but not great.

Johnson does have a guy banging the table: it is once again Steve Lorenz. Lorenz's other favorite in this cycle was late-skyrocket Trente Jones, FWIW, and he's aggressive in his projection here:

"He's my sleeper pick for the class. Great hands, dynamic athlete. ... He was a take for Georgia and Florida State. And the thing with him is that he could play on either side of the ball."

He also called him a "total steal" in his class wrap-up article. Also apparently in this boat is Don Brown. According to Steve Wilftong, Brown "stood on the table" for Johnson.

Johnson is tentatively assumed to be a receiver but could end up many places. If Brown's one of the main reasons Michigan recruited the guy you have to assume defense is on the table, and per his coach that is an argument Brown is making:

"…amazing hands, quickness and ridiculous strength for his size. I think he’s the second strongest player on our team in terms of bench, squat and power clean. … they like him as a slot receiver mostly. I know Don Brown thinks he could play the VIPER position."

Harbaugh also said "offense or defense" was a possibility in his signing day press conference.

With two other vipers in this class it's more likely Johnson is given a shot at putting out what looks like a developing fire in the secondary.

Etc.: George Johnson III is also a junior quarterback in Gary, Indiana.

Why Steve Breaston, but obscure? Breaston was a six-foot-tall running QB in high school who converted to slot receiver and used his exceptional ability to blip out of tight spaces to become a star at Michigan and eventually an NFL starter. Breaston was lean and played in the NFL at 189; Johnson might be able to fill out a bit more and become a plausible safety.

Breaston was a much bigger deal as a recruit and had better testing numbers than Johnson, but if Lorenz is right the most likely guy you'll be reminded of is Breaston.

Guru Reliability: Low. Not particularly scouted.

Variance: Very high. Learning a new position. Solid chance he tries his hand at two or three.

Ceiling: Moderate. Not that big and hasn't tested that well.

General Excitement Level: Low. I don't really have anything to dispute the indifferent rankings except Lorenz's enthusiasm. The offers seem a little questionable.  So you've got a guy who has to find a new position who doesn't seem to have a huge ceiling.

Projection: Redshirt, as he's almost certainly going to be significantly behind Jackson and Sainristil. Assuming Michigan gets at least one hit from those two, Johnson's probably going to get moved to defense. There are two more slots in the 2020 class. Michigan does not need five guys for one spot; they do need all hands on deck in the secondary in the aftermath of Hill and Metellus departing.

From there it's anyone's guess.