In-State S Dior Johnson Commits to Minn.

Submitted by CincyBlue on

He flipped from Wake Forrest to Jerry Kill last night.  Played at Southfield.  Has mosty MAC offers and lower level Big Ten.   He is 6'2 200 pound safety that is rated 4 stars by Rivals and 3 by Scouts.   Neither Michigan or MSU has offered.  

Has anyone seen this kid play?  Magnus your thoughts?   Strange for an instate 4 star to not have either MSU or Michigan offers.  

BTW:  Michael Ojemudia committed to Iowa yesterday as well. He of course is the brother of Mario.

Chad Henne

January 29th, 2015 at 11:23 AM ^

This one hurts a bit. Have a feeling it's going to come back to bite us, as Jerry Kill is a great evaluator.

BlueFaninCincy

January 29th, 2015 at 11:32 AM ^

If Harbaugh/Durkin/Mattison didn't want him, I'm good with it, especially since Dantonio/Narduzzi also didn't want him.   That's a real interesting case though, a kid having both 4 stars and such a limited offer list. 

Chiwolve

January 29th, 2015 at 1:22 PM ^

Define reach -- we have been offering and accepting recruits that are unranked or 2-3 star recruits by all major services. IMO, these could easily be qualified as "reaches". 

I'm still of the mindset that "In Harbaugh We Trust" and if this coaching staff wants a player, then I want them too. But let's not get all high and mighty and say we shodn't reach for a local talent that some people are high on.

Padog

January 29th, 2015 at 11:34 AM ^

I remember there being a thread on this a while ago. A guy was wondering why he was committed to Wake Forest. He seemed to be treating the recruiting services as all powerful talent evaluators.

gwkrlghl

January 29th, 2015 at 11:44 AM ^

I am sure that Dantonio's staff and Hoke's staff looked at this kid's tape and decided he wasn't good enough to play for either team so he is going to Minnesota. Just because Rivals puts 4 stars on him doesn't mean we're letting Jerry Kill steal a heisman candidate out of our backyard.

If his offer list is only MAC and lower-Big Ten schools, then you should take that to mean he's a MAC / lower-Big Ten caliber recruit. /end thread

GoWings2008

January 29th, 2015 at 11:54 AM ^

Any reason we didn't at least get some interest from him?  I admit I have no idea how good he is, but I do know from a reliable source that the family is really grounded, great kids and everything.  Mario is great addition and I hope he continues to do well.

Magnus

January 29th, 2015 at 12:04 PM ^

He only has a few offers and just picked up the offers from Iowa and Indiana (his best ones) in the past week or so. He's about 6'2", 190 lbs., which is obviously small for a Big Ten linebacker. I trust that Iowa will do something with him because that's what they do (beef up kids, coach them up well, etc.).

Magnus

January 29th, 2015 at 12:14 PM ^

Johnson is one of those guys who I think was a bit of a late bloomer. Based on his junior film, I don't think he was worth an offer. Based on his senior film, I think he could play at the Michigan level. But Michigan got an early commitment from Tyree Kinnel, and neither Hoke nor Harbaugh have really been pursuing other safety prospects, so they must feel satisfied with their safety situation. If Michigan were still looking for a safety, I woudn't be surprised if Johnson got an offer.

He's a big kid who runs well. Decent hitter, good hands. I think there's a lot of technique stuff to work on (reading route combinations, tackling, etc.), and he doesn't have the greatest instincts. 

Magnus

January 29th, 2015 at 1:04 PM ^

If you're looking for a physical comparison, I'd say probably Thomas Gordon. Short-ish and kind of stocky, decent speed but not explosive. I think where he really separates himself is his understanding of the game. He can disguise coverages, he seems to be the quarterback of the defense, gets people lined up correctly, sniffs out plays, etc. He also does a good job of squaring up to ball carriers so he doesn't get juked, which is something that Dior Johnson struggles with.

Auerbach

January 29th, 2015 at 12:57 PM ^

BUT THE KID HAS 4 STARS NEXT TO HIS NAME! WHY ARE IN-STATE COACHES LETTING HIM SLIP AWAY?! /s

Seriously, guys. What you should be questioning is how in the world the kid ended up with 4 stars, not how in the world Harbaugh/Mattison/Durkin/Hoke/Dantonio/Narduzzi have failed to recognize his talent. 

Magnus

January 29th, 2015 at 1:07 PM ^

Eh, variety is the spice of life. I don't mind that he has 4 stars in some places. It shows that the recruiting services aren't just waiting for him to get big-time offers before they rank him highly. If every kid with some combination of three Power Five offers were automatically given 4 stars, that would make the ratings pretty lame. I kind of like an occasional 4-star kid without big offers, and I also like it when some kid headed to Florida ends up with 2 stars.

Auerbach

January 29th, 2015 at 3:47 PM ^

Dior Johnson isn't an under-the-radar recruit though. He has 15 offers from all over the midwest, including three Big Ten programs. That's not the same as Roethlisberger's situation. 

gopherfan

January 29th, 2015 at 3:47 PM ^

I hope Dior's a good player, and I love that it helps Minnesota's recruiting rankings, as I like the idea of selling kids on the idea that we're on the way up. Having said that, I don't have 4* expectations for him. He wasn't likely to get a Gopher offer until Notre Dame swooped in on Mykelti Williams just days before we thought he was going to give us his commitment. Given that we'd had his teammate, Ray Buford, committed for months, I don't think there was a lack of awareness of him, just other guys higher on the board. I'd guess that was at the case at Michigan and MSU as well. We'll see how it turns out in a few years. 

BigOzzy86

January 29th, 2015 at 9:20 PM ^

get offered by other big programs is great for high school football in the State of Michigan.   It will further add greater value and demand for the top in state recruits...  which I believe we will always be in contention for anyways....       Similar to conference pride... as much as we hate to say it... OSU winning the NC added greater value to UofM's program... and the Big Ten overall.