Previously: Last year's profiles.

Washington DC — 5'11", 195
		24/7	3*, #493 overall #36 S, #3 DC
		Rivals	4*, #182 overall #16 S, #1 DC
		ESPN	4*, 80 rating #35 S, #4 DC
		Composite	4*, #316 overall #27 S, #3 DC
		Other Suitors	Bama(!), PSU, BC, MD
		YMRMFSPA	Delano Hill
Previously On MGoBlog	Hello post from yours truly. Future Blue Derivatives from Adam.
Notes	Twitter. Opening. UA Game.
Film
Senior:

The annual kickoff of these articles is a time to revisit the state of the recruiting industry. This time around it's about what it was last time. Rivals and 24/7 still scout; some of Rivals's national takes are frustratingly flimsy. ESPN continues to wither on the vine; they rank Quinten Johnson as a four-star but have not even the bare-bones take on him that they had on many of last year's recruits.

They do list the most intriguing thing about Johnson, since that's automated:

Johnson laid down some numbers when he hit up an Opening regional in Las Vegas. That 125.7 was good for 8th nationally by the end of the cycle. He also impressed onlookers with his on-field ability, winning the DB MVP:

… safety build but showed off some of the best feet among all the corners. Johnson can run but is also fluid in how he plays, has the physicality to bully opposing receivers and is a plus athlete with a ton of positional versatility.

There were even some slightly overheated takes about his ability to play corner:

…incredible performance from start to finish. … He was equally impressive in the position and one on one drills and showed the ability to play corner or safety. He has a safety frame but showed very good feet and quickness and plays with a nice physical edge to his game.

Those would not be repeated but Michigan is looking for safeties who can cover man-to-man so the ability to vaguely impersonate a corner is a nice bonus.

[After THE JUMP: Bama offers! Sort of! Maybe?]

That performance moved Johnson out of the "regional recruit the Maryland site does a ton of articles on" into the Opening proper and eventually the UA game. Along the way, the exclamation point from the offer list: Alabama. Johnson's recruitment by the Tide never went anywhere, which leads one to believe that he got an "offer." But that offer-type substance came at camp, which leads one to think it was in fact an OFFER. The truth is probably somewhere in between, with Johnson getting an offer contingent on some other dudes going elsewhere. And by the time one of them did it was too late. Happily for Michigan that guy's name is Daxton Hill. But that's another post.

Johnson went from ripping up a regional camp to a middling guy at the Opening. He mostly drew mention in Michigan- and region-specific articles. The takes there were measured:

“His football IQ is off the charts,” the analyst said. “He’s so good at anticipating plays and is always in the right place at the right time. He’s the captain of the defense, and everyone else looks to him to make the calls and get his teammates lined up correctly.

“I would like to see his change of direction get a little better first, especially when he has to turn around and run. That’s part of the reason I don’t think he’d thrive as a deep center safety in college.

"Using his instincts as an in-the-box kind of safety is his best fit.”

This is part of a theme with Johnson evaluations. He's in at the deep end, technique wise. Unfortunately, the game Jonson played on ESPN last fall provided limited opportunities to evaluate his coverage when Adam wrote up a Future Blue Derivatives. Trieu, in between various bits of praise:

"Must improve backpedal and transitions in man to man coverage. Has to improve man to man technique."

A lot of this is due to inexperience. His first year with extensive playing time was as a junior, and he split time between positions then. After his senior year:

“I (improved) definitely in coming up and playing more in the box and playing strictly defense, and having that attack mindset,” he said. “Last year I was more of an offensive type of player. I was able to focus more on defense and be ready physically. This is my first full year of playing safety.”

So despite the whiz-bang testing he got a shock to the system when he showed up at the UA practices. Sam Webb referred to it as a "baptism of sorts," which is vivid. Trieu:

“He can run straight line. I think there’s just some technical things that he’s got to work on when you’ve got a guy who runs a 10.5 100m eating up cushion. …one of the most put together safeties here. …can run and make up some ground when he needs to….looks put together enough to play in the box."

Brian Dohn:

“…they have him playing corner …he’s more safety …when the ball was thrown down the field, he worked hard to keep up with the receiver. …you really want him to play inside the box as a safety, really close to the line.”

This is a weird take for multiple people to put out given Johnson's testing results. If he can run 4.4s and people are talking about him as a box safety something's off. One possibility: dude just can't change direction. The other: dude just can't change direction yet.

There were some indications it was the latter immediately after the above quotes were issued. As the week rolled on and Johnson got his footing he started drawing more positive mentions. "Things began to click" for him as he "improved with each passing workout"; he "steadily improved" enough to make the top performers list from 24/7 on day 3 as a "thick kid with a safety build but has good straight line speed"; he made a top plays list after an interception that capped a "rock solid day" on which he "played the deep ball well"—quite a turnaround from getting baptized.

Per Johnson that's because he had a foot injury that hampered him early and he started picking up on the tricks his opposition was using:

"Learning guys, learning how they move, figuring out little tricks and tools they use to get open and pretty much figuring out guys because every receiver has their own niche and using that niche against them."

So by day three this was 24/7 analyst John Garcia's take:

“…was as consistent as any defensive back out there, which is saying a lot in that group. I thought he played his technique well, maintained leverage, and maybe most impressively… didn’t panic when the ball was in the air. … You really couldn’t find a weakness (Tuesday). He wasn’t beaten deep or anything.”

“I thought he was fluid enough (to cover man to man). Now, he didn’t have to turn and run with guys that are 4.5-flat or better."

That is in specific reference to Jameson Williams, who was repeatedly mentioned as the guy who gave him issues on day one. Williams is a 10.5 100 meter guy that a lot of people had trouble keeping up with. He's headed to Ohio State so that's probably the last time they'll ever match up.

Anyway, by the time the game rolled around Trieu said he "showed the most improvement" over the course of the week and was "one of the top five best performers" in the final practice.

Rivals was impressed enough to move him into their top 200, eventually landing at #182. ESPN gave him a bump from a 79 to an 80. 24/7, unusually, stuck with their original evaluation. They're often the most willing to change their mind about a prospect with more data, but even though by the end of UA week he seemed in the middle of the pack of defensive backs the mid-four star eval you'd think comes with that did not materialize.

Michigan was talking to Johnson about viper some, but that was going to be after a period of time spent at "rover"—the strong safety spot with a lot of slot responsibilities that Metellus has played so far. Naturally, the obligatory comparison came out:

“Don Brown laid out a presentation and he basically compared me to (Jabrill Peppers),” Johnson said. “They want me to go the same route as Jabrill did and play at rover, and then work my way to that viper position.

“They said if I pick it up pretty fast I would go to viper, and if not I would start out at rover and then go to viper. They want me to be as similar to Jabrill Peppers as I can.”

The viper part of that probably isn't going to happen any more. Michigan took Anthony Solomon and Joey Velazquez, who are both clean viper fits, in the same class. And this spring the second-string safeties were both walk-ons. Anyone who can run and change direction is going to be in contention for the two-deep at safety.

For what it's worth, various evaluations of Johnson do talk about box safety things. If pressed into viper duty he sounds like a dude who can hack it. He made a pad-popping hit in the UA game:

…made a big flash play when he broke on a ball, came down hill, and played through contact. …when you play through contact and downhill and do it clean, that’s about as ideal as you can get..”

He made Mike Farrell's UA recap as a guy who "plays bigger than he is," and various evaluations make reference to his ability in tight spaces:

…built college-ready. Muscular frame and has good weight to him already….Physical, will play in the box and delivers jarring hits. Projects as a safety who will likely be in the box more, but can play over slots and tight ends as well. …strong, fast, and likes contact.

Brian Dohn:

Johnson has the ability to walk up to the line of scrimmage and play press coverage in the slot, and he is physical in the running game. He can shoot gaps and lower his shoulder to make a tackle, and he is strong and knows how to win the hand fight to get off blocks and also re-route receivers at the line of scrimmage.

That isn't quite the Khaleke Hudson murderferret evaluation but it's not far off.

Michigan's coaching staff started talking like he was destined for the secondary later in the recruiting cycle:

“Originally they wanted me to do the Jabrill Peppers role, but they want me to make an immediate impact on defense, so they kind of dialed that back a little bit.”

If Michigan finds a safety other than Dax Hill next year then Johnson might move down into the viper role. That single spot looks like it's going to have three or four contenders in a post-Hudson world, though, and safety looks far more open.

Etc.: Johnson was recruited by BC and had good things to say about their secondary coach:

One of the schools Johnson knows he will officially visit is Boston College, and he connects well with secondary coach Anthony Campanile.

"I love coach Camp," Johnson said. "I like his passion, his fire. He’s a crazy dude. I’m a crazy dude. He really gets at it. I plan to do an official to B.C. It feels like home there. The passion the coaches coach with there, the DBs they put out, and they get guys to the next level in the (NFL) and also in a field I want to be in one day."

Campanile is now in Ann Arbor, of course.

Random other person named Quinten Johnson: a kid from Hartford, MI, who signed with NAIA Bethel this January.

Why Delano Hill? Hill was a very fast safety who dropped a 4.4 40 at the Opening and had universal low-to-mid four-star acclaim. Hill's a touch bigger at 6'1" and ran a slightly worse 4.27 shuttle at the NFL combine; PFF dinged him for a bit of stiffness in his coverage but he still went in the third round to the Seahawks after a Michigan career spent as Michigan's main strong safety/slot cover guy.

The downside take would be Josh Furman, another jet of a safety. In his case he couldn't change direction and barely saw the field before a grad transfer.

Khaleke Hudson is the obvious comparable if Johnson ends up playing viper.

Guru Reliability: High-minus. A lot of scouting from both Rivals and 24/7, with Opening and an All Star appearance. Significant disagreement between them.

Variance: Moderate. Some concern about his ability to change direction that could be real and limit him to a middling starter or bench player. But if he works that out, yeah.

Ceiling: High-minus. Height a minor issue and the scouting's enough to make me think that the SPARQ score is a little optimistic about his athletic package. Still a legit 4.4 safety who's already around 200 pounds.

General Excitement Level: High-minus. Legit 4.4 safety who's already around 200 pounds.

Projection: Welcome to the two deep, safety-shaped person! Johnson's role in year one is likely to be minimal since this space projects that about 95% of the safety snaps go to Hill and Metellus, but when walk-ons are your second string guys in the spring game opportunity abounds. Michigan will be grooming Johnson for a significant future.

In year two he's got two cracks at starting with Metellus and Hudson graduating. Hopefully he'll be competing at safety since Michigan has more options for fewer slots at viper. Unless Woods or Hawkins makes a surge over the course of this year, Johnson is the odds-on favorite to replace Metellus.