There might be a few unknowns on the defense at this point in spring ball, but there’s absolutely no doubt that Will Johnson is a lock to start at corner this fall. Entering his junior year in Ann Arbor, Johnson is widely regarded as the top corner in all of college football, as well as a lock to be a first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
For new defensive backs coach LaMar Morgan, Johnson’s talent speaks for itself. What’s really stood out, according to Morgan, is the way that Johnson works as if he’s still a freshman fighting for a starting spot.
“To me, I think Will Johnson — everybody sees Will Johnson on the field and he plays,” Morgan said. “Really, if you’re at practice, Will Johnson is like a freshman that just got here, early enrollee trying to earn his respect from his teammates. Every time somebody makes a big play, if Will is not on the field, he’s running into the endzone with everybody. The dude cares about his teammates. He’s the ultimate teammate that I have ever been around.”
Although Johnson is an elite talent, Morgan admits that there are still some things he can improve on – and that Johnson is more than open to being coached. According to Morgan, a big part of that is due to the incredible environment Johnson was raised in.
“His parents do a great job, his sister that works with us now, they’re just first-class people,” Morgan said. “The dude just cares about his teammates. He’s very genuine, he always wants to learn, he always wants to coach each other. I learn a lot from him. You’ve got a new coach coming here and asking you to change some techniques, he’s open. He’s just a very unique player, man. That’s what I think people don’t realize, the dude truly, truly cares about his teammates and he works like he’s just trying to earn a spot on the bus every single day.”
Overall, Morgan says he likes what he’s seeing from his secondary so far. As has often been the case this spring when talking with the players and media, Morgan mentioned two young sophomore defensive backs – Jyaire Hill and DJ Waller Jr. – as guys who are making some noise this spring.
“I think all the corners are doing a good job now,” Morgan said. “You’ve got Sug (Jyaire) Hill, he’s doing a good job. DJ Waller, (Kechaun) Harris. We’ve just been trying to throw a lot of guys with the ones and twos and rolling reps. That’s what I believe in. You can’t tell guys you will give them an opportunity and then never get reps at it. Just trying to get the guys as much reps as they can, being able to have a big sample of what these guys have done all spring, and once it gets down to fall camp, summer and all that, we can make an adjustment of who we can put out there on the other side of Will.”
Also worth noting that Morgan singled out a guy who could serve as the replacement to Mike Sainristil this fall, and that’s junior defensive back Zeke Berry. The former four-star recruit was once considered one of the top defensive back prospects coming out of high school, and it sounds like he’s having a solid spring so far.
