Hello: Shelton Johnson Comment Count

Ace

Delray Beach (FL) Atlantic DE Shelton Johnson announced a commitment to Michigan over fellow finalists Florida State and Miami in a ceremony at his school this afternoon. Johnson becomes the 13th commit in the 2015 class and fills a major need at defensive end. He joins Karan Higdon and Keith Washington among NSD commits for the Wolverines.

GURU RATINGS

Scout Rivals ESPN 247 247 Comp
4*, #27 DE,

#291 Ovr
3*, #37 WDE 3*, 79, #36 DE 4*, 91, #16 SDE 3*, #20 SDE,

#364 Ovr

There's a split in Johnson's rankings—Scout and 247 both have him in the top-300 area, while Rivals and ESPN place him in the nondescript three-star category. All four sites list him at 6'5" and 220-225 pounds.

SCOUTING

Scout's Jamie Newberg named Johnson the #4 defensive lineman in Florida—in a stacked class—heading into his senior season:

Johnson is not as highly touted as the others above here but this kid has a ton of talent. He looks terrific on film. Johnson can put his hand in the dirt or stand up. He can also slide inside. He has versatility and athleticism. Johnson gets off the ball well and can use his hands to shed blocks. He shows speed and lateral quickness. 

ESPN likes his frame, though they point out he needs to weight and strength, and say that he's a good physical prospect in need of some refining ($):

Flashes ability to fire out and uncoil, but needs to continue add size to help him maintain and hold ground. Flashes active, violent hands, but needs to continue to develop hand usage. Displays enough range to be factor in backside pursuit.

Good burst and length can be assets in his development. Long and little straight line, but flashes ability to do decent job of dipping inside shoulder and turning the corner. Needs to learn to better utilize hands and reach. Flashes some ability to transfer speed-to-power and knock blockers back at times.

They add that he plays "with a physical and at times violent nature."

There's surprisingly little else out there on him. Johnson earned his FSU offer after an impressive camp performance last summer (video below) and got a late bump into the four-star range on 247 after his senior season.

OFFERS

Johnson held offers from Florida State, FAU, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisville, Miami (YTM), Minnesota, Mississippi State, NC State, South Carolina, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia. He had interest, but no offer, from Florida, LSU, and Georgia.

HIGH SCHOOL

Atlantic has produced a couple of very successful four-star prospects in 2009 CB Jayron Hosley (Virginia Tech, now on the New York Giants) and 2006 OL Orlando Franklin (Miami, now on the Denver Broncos). There's also a Big Ten connection: Minnesota RB Donnell Kirkwood was a 2010 three-star.

STATS

Johnson's stats weren't readily available and are impossible to Google thanks to the existence of an NFL player of the same name.

FAKE 40 TIME

None listed.

VIDEO

Partial senior highlights:

This performance at FSU's camp last summer earned him an offer from the Noles:

Junior highlights and single-game reels can be found on his Hudl page.

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

There's not a ton to go on here, but Johnson is clearly in need of some seasoning before he's ready to see the field. Even with Michigan's thin depth chart, he should take a redshirt year unless he looks ready to contribute at the hybrid WDE/OLB position as a situational pass-rusher. For Michigan's purposes, it'd be ideal if he's able to bulk up and play SDE, which is quite plausible with his frame; that might take a year or two, however.

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

Johnson fills a significant need at DE. Michigan is now waiting on announcements from TE Tyrone Wheatley Jr. (any moment now) and CB Iman Marshall (4 pm). Wheatley is down to Michigan and UCLA, with the edge to the good guys, while Marshall is highly unlikely to end up in the class.

Comments

AnthonyThomas

February 4th, 2015 at 4:12 PM ^

In case anyone is thinking this is a case of FSU telling Johnson to look somewhere else at the last minute, Clint Brewster, whose dad is on FSU's staff, is saying the Florida State coaches were shocked that Johnson commited to Michigan. 

1817

February 4th, 2015 at 5:14 PM ^

This is great, getting kids from the SEC country all day today and the QB from out West...impressed with JH's first class...the common thread seems to be they're impressed with the academics and JH.

561MaizeNBlue

February 4th, 2015 at 8:42 PM ^

I live in Delray Beach, just down the street from his high school. I'm pretty pumped we signed this kid. Looks like he has a ton of upside. I could see him blocking a kick or two on special teams, although I'm hoping they don't burn a possible redshirt if he only plays special teams next year.

One of my best friends graduated from Atlantic in 06 and he said a lot of the other alums he knows who played there and have seen Johnson play think he could be one of the best to come out of there. Aside from the players listed in the hello post Atlantic also produced nfl players Mike Rumph, David Clowney, and Brandon Flowers. Another guy who was a beast in high school from Atlantic some of you guys may remember was Minnesota safety Brandon Owens who actually had his career ended when that Qb from Penn St ran him over.

BLHoke

February 5th, 2015 at 3:35 AM ^

This is my personal favorite commit from this class. Have a feeling this kid is gonna find his way onto the field on passing downs at the very least and wreak havoc off the edge.