Ohio State four-star defensive back commit Tyreke Johnson (247Sports).
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State is expected to sign five-star defensive back Tyreke Johnson during the early signing period for the 2018 recruiting class from Dec. 20-22. Here's an in-depth look at this member of the Buckeyes' recruiting class.
By Bill Landis, cleveland.com
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Tyreke Johnson
School: Trinity Christian Academy (Jacksonville, Fla.).
Other offers: Georgia, Florida State, Miami, Clemson, UCLA, LSU, Alabama, Michigan, Nebraska and others.
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What's his deal?
Ohio State had a nice recruiting win over Florida State to get linebacker Teradja Mitchell in this class. With Johnson, the Buckeyes have a recruiting win over Clemson. Those two programs had been a bit of a thorn in Ohio State’s side when it came to getting some top-rated defensive prospects.
Johnson, the high school teammate of current Buckeye Shaun Wade, chose Ohio State on Dec. 5 over Clemson and UCLA. His commitment to the Buckeyes came less than a month after a visit to Clemson. Johnson took an official visit to Ohio State on Oct. 28 for the Buckeyes’ win over Penn State.
He had always been a player on Ohio State’s radar, but Clemson was the figured destination through a large part of Johnson’s recruitment. Kerry Coombs was the lead recruiter on Johnson, and helped the Buckeyes pull off the comeback in his recruitment.
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How he fits into Ohio State's plans
As a corner or a safety. Ohio State’s top corner target in this class for a long time had been five-star Texan Anthony Cook. That doesn’t mean the Buckeyes wouldn’t have taken Johnson either way. He’s on the elite level that you don’t pass up. But because Ohio State is no longer the favorite for Cook (expect him to pick Texas) Johnson helps Ohio State out with his versatility.
Johnson is rated as a safety, but that Coombs worked so hard in recruiting him suggests that Ohio State has designs on making him a cornerback when he gets to Columbus.
He can join current commit Sevyn Banks as a corner in this class, or he can stay at safety with commits Josh Proctor and Marcus Hooker (assuming Jaiden Woodbey doesn’t sign with Ohio State on Dec. 20).
Johnson is a playmaker, one who was getting college offers as a seventh grader. He took a lot of offensive snaps at Trinity and had six interceptions returned for a touchdown in his career. And he’s among the players expected to enroll early. So he can get quick work with Coombs while he focuses solely on corner. Johnson was also a dangerous return man in high school, and could do that for Ohio State down the line.
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Projections for 2018
Because he’s enrolling early, Johnson will have the opportunity to secure at the very least a special teams spot in 2018. It’s hard to imagine him cracking the corner rotation with the expected return of Kendall Sheffield and Damon Arnette, and the rise of Jeffrey Okudah.
Okudah had a hard time finding corner snaps in 2017. Expect it to be the same for Johnson in his freshman year.
But a special teams role in his first season will set him up for a run at a starting job in 2019. Keep in mind, though, that the Buckeyes have stacked up some corner talent with Sheffield, Arnette, Okudah, Wade, Marcus Williamson and Amir Riep. They’re deep there.
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