Texas picks up commitment from Rivals250 CB Jamier Johnson
It was less than three weeks ago when Texas had a big recruiting day, pulling in commitments from defensive backs JD Coffey and Ishmael Ibraheem. On Friday, Texas added another key piece to its defensive back class, landing a verbal commitment from cornerback Jamier Johnson.
Johnson, out of Pasadena (CA) Muir, announced his decision moments ago. A 6-0, 164-pound cornerback prospect, he picked Texas over schools like Colorado and Arizona State. USC, Ohio State, Oregon and Nebraska were the other schools that were included in his previous top-seven.
“He’s an athletic cornerback. He’s not going to blow you away physically, but he can run, is athletic, makes a lot of plays on the football,” said Rivals.com recruiting analyst Adam Gorney. “He was originally listed as an athlete because he can go both ways, but he’s definitely a corner at the next level. He’ll develop physically there, so that shouldn’t be a problem.
“What most stands out about him is that he can play in space, or he can pay on an island. He’s very comfortable doing that. Going up against bigger receivers is not a problem, running with fast receivers is not a problem.”
A four-star prospect, Johnson is a Rivals250 member and is ranked as the No. 16 cornerback in the country. He held more than 20 scholarship offers overall.
Texas recently suffered a hit to its roster when cornerback Anthony Cook decided to transfer, so adding talent at the position is a must for first-year corner coach Jay Valai. He already landed the top corner prospect in the state of Texas in Ibraheem, and now has one of the top players from California in Johnson.
Gorney feels Johnson’s skill set will transfer over well into Big 12 play, where most teams like to throw the ball around the field.
“That should be no problem at all. From playing 7 on 7 out here and going to camps out here, you’re at camps all the time, you’re just used to getting challenged all the time, playing on an island, man on man coverage. All the things you’re going to see in the Big 12, he’s pretty well versed on,” Gorney said. He’s seen it at the high school level, in the off-season all year.
“A lot of kids out here talk about Big 12 because they want to get tested, play in a similar system. I don’t think that’s going to be an issue translating over at all. If anything, it’s going to be in his wheelhouse since that’s kind of what he’s used to.”
Johnson becomes Texas’ 14th commitment in the 2021 class and third pure defensive back pledge. Versatile athlete Billy Bowman is another player who could wind up in the secondary, and the Longhorns are still recruiting other defensive back targets like Andrew Mukuba, Devin Lemear and Jalon Williams.