Vitals
Name: Marcus Johnson
Position: Wide receiver
Height: 6-1
Weight: 180
Speed: 4.41 40-yard dash
High School: League City Clear Springs
Rating (Rivals): Three out of five (5.7)
Following his junior season, Johnson was a player who wasn't on the Texas radar. After performing well at several summer camps, the Houston-area wide receiver committed to Texas Tech. Like many prospects looking around, Johnson claimed that he was "100% committed" to the Red Raiders in September, but was proactive reaching out to the Texas staff to express his interest during a monster senior season that significantly increased his stock. In 2011, Johnson caught 63 passes for 1,169 yards and 11 touchdowns, as well as adding 352 rushing yards on 30 rushes and a touchdown.
When it appeared that interest from the Longhorns waned a bit, Johnson committed to Texas A&M around Thanksgiving on a visit. But defections from the Texas receiving corps, tably that of Darius White, opened up more spots in the class and Johnson received his offer from the Longhorns just before the banquet weekend in early December and committed the following day, calling Texas his "dream school."
On his commitment to Texas ($):
I sat down and thought about it and I know this will be my very last decision. I'm not going anywhere else. I have always loved Texas. Through all of it I found some place where my heart was fully into it. I think the A&M situation, my heart wasn't in it. I had to make the right decision for myself, and that was to go to my dream school.
Johnson on how his hard work paid off ($) and the tough decisions he made:
There was a time, I never even thought this was possible. It's been a roller coaster. I hate the fact that my recruiting went the way it did. My intentions weren't bad as far as decommitting, but when it happened (with Texas), I hadn't felt like that way at all.
People actually say live your dreams, and that's one thing I've been able to accomplish, to see my family 's face, how happy they are, how proud they are. Texas is a program we've always loved. It's an honor to have this opportunity and I'm going to do everything I can to contribute to the school and bring everything I have to the team.
More from his father on why his son de-committed ($):
At the time, when Marcus made his decision to go forward with the A&M offer, he thought there wasn't a chance that UT was going to offer him. But after UT made their offer, he realized that all his hopes and dreams had finally come true and it was just an opportunity he couldn't refuse. Texas just feels right for him, he feels it will be the perfect situation for him to grow as a person, as a man and as a football player.
Marcus has tremendous respect for both Texas Tech and Texas A&M. He did not take the scholarship offers from those schools lightly. But when Texas decided to make him an offer, he just could not go against everything he's wanted and wished for ever since he was a child. It was a huge decision, but in the end, after talking to his coaches and us, his parents, we told him he had to be comfortable with his decision. From that point, he decided to roll with the Longhorns. He's extremely excited about his decision and we're very proud of him.
Marcus Johnson Highlights (via 247SportsStudio)
Pre-commitment:
As far as what Johnson could, and probably will, bring to the Texas recruiting class, in many ways his skillset is similar to Kendall Sanders. Both are about the size typical for flankers, with elite or near-elite ability to make defenders miss in a phone booth and long strides that still somehow allow both to reach top speed in a flash.
Even more impressive than his speed and elusiveness is his body control, which allows him to make an incredible number of catches along the sideline for a high school player. In fact, in several years of watching highlights, I'm not sure that I've ever seen someone who not only has that developed of any ability to bring in those throws, but also does it so consistently.
So even though Sanders and Johnson look pretty similar, the thought here is that Johnson is a better deep and intermediate threat than Sanders, who could quickly become effective at Texas if he sticks on offense on end arounds or jet sweeps and in the wide receiver screen game.
ESPN evaluation ($):
Johnson is a pretty savvy receiver that can be very difficult to gauge for DBs due to his size and deceptive speed, quickness and sneaky second gear. He has good size and is a good looking athlete. Has quick feet and coordinated body control. Comes off the ball at about 3/4 speed and will lull defenders to sleep and then show impressive burst and acceleration especially on vertical routes. He is a much more natural and gifted deep route runner that he is underneath. Stems and weaves defenders and will attack alignment as well as eat up cushion prior to the break. Shows sideline awareness and the size and long arms to adjust to balls thrown high and behind him. Will make impressive catches in contested match-ups along the sideline. Shows a wide catch radius to adjust to poorly thrown balls. He is deceptive and quick for his size after the catch. Shows enough elusiveness to make the first defender miss, get upfield and gain valuable positive yards. Shows some shake and also strength to ward off tacklers in the open field. His size and frame development should allow for him to become a quality go-to receiver in the red area. We do not believe Johnson is a burner, but rather a guy that can change gears. Knows how to use his size. He needs polish and refinement as a route runner on patterns that require sharp cuts, stop/start agility and breaking off sharply once at full speed. There is upside with Johnson and we feel he has BCS potential in time as an inside or outside wide receiver.
While the ESPN evaluation notes that Johnson isn't a burner, that may be somewhat of a misnomer. It is true that Johnson doesn't have truly elite speed, but to run a legit 4.51 is impressive -- consider that fellow commit Johnathan Gray was not able to best that time at The Opening. The 4.41 time listed above is a report from the Texas A&M summer camp.
For wide receivers, the ability to get in and out of breaks and makes defenders miss using first-step explosiveness and lateral quickness is as important, or perhaps more important, than pure, straight-line speed. Note, for instance, that Wes Welker has never been the fastest player vertically, but is quick and elusive. Johnson didn't post the best shuttle time -- 4.41 -- but does appear more agile than that on film in the open field or in the wide receiver screen game, which may explain why he reportedly ran a 4.11 shuttle at the same Aggie camp he posted his 4.41 40.
When watching film on Johnson, the most impressive aspect of his game may be his ability to make catches along the sideline. As noted above from the evaluation prior to his commitment, it's extremely rare to see a high school player put as many tough sideline grabs on film as Johnson. It's a testament to his body control, ability to adjust to the football, and his strong hands to allow him to make catches outside the framework of his body.
It says a lot about Johnson that he worked hard throughout high school to improve both his athleticism and his understanding of the wide receiver position. He still does need some work on his precision, but when he gets to Texas, he will be a more refined route runner than most prospects who enter the program and has already shown the ability to reap the rewards of his hard work.
If there's a major question with Johnson, it's how much room he still has left to grow. There's certainly room on his frame to grow, but the more important consideration is how much upside he still has left to uncover. The answer to that will ultimately determine whether he becomes a solid contributor or whether he has the chance to grow into an all-conference type of flanker.
0 recs | 30 comments
Football Speed
I think his forty time would be the same with pads ON. He looks like a burner on tape I’ve seen.
WestTxHornFan - January 20, 2012
Watching that video
I like to think that Harsin picked this kid solely on his prior experience catching reverse passes.
CMDR - January 20, 2012
40 Time.
The most OVERRATED measurable in the history of football.
40A - January 20, 2012
Overrated and inaccurate
How many times do we hear that so-and-so is a 4.4 guy, only to see him grade out closer to 4.6 when timed the right way (electronically)?
burntorangehorn - January 20, 2012
GBR
Fantastic write up. I didn’t mean to spoil the surprise you obviously had planned for us.
What a great kid and true Longhorn.
Wrangler86 - January 20, 2012
Not at all.
I was actually trying to figure out which prospect I wanted to start with and decided on Johnson because of your earlier post.
Wescott Eberts (GoBR) - January 20, 2012
What exactly is the process that the coaches follow?
If a kid commits elsewhere, do UT coaches continue to follow & contact that kid or do they pretty much leave him entirely to that other school? I have heard that Mack doesn’t ever contact a recruit who has committed elsewhere. He only contacts them after they have opened the recruitment process back up and contacted UT directly. I was trying to follow the timeline of MJ’s recruitment and was wondering what the UT coaches were doing with him during the time he was committed elsewhere.
robthecob - January 20, 2012
My understanding
is that the coaching staff will reach out to the recruit indirectly to gauge interest, most likely through the kid’s high school staff. if they hear something positive, then they will contact the recruit.
I believe that Johnson was pretty adamant about his interest in Texas, so it happens some times that the contact is initiated by the recruit. Such was the case with Demarco Cobbs, who appeared lock in to Tennessee until he told the Texas coaches that he wanted to be a Longhorn.
Wescott Eberts (GoBR) - January 20, 2012
You work fast
That is a lot of information you had in this story. And, I think he deserved to be first. Everyone has been talking about TJ and the truth is MJ has been ignored a bit. No offense to CJ, but CJ is at the top of most lists of WR and so he’s got his attention. MJ is a bit of a secret weapon for us and I thought he deserved a shout out. I didn’t even know he had been de-commit who had been waiting for his Texas offer (golden ticket). Now I really like him.
Wrangler86 - January 20, 2012
Plaudits to the staff, or to Harsin or Wyatt
or whoever stayed with this one.
This is t he kind of player the previous staff would have whiffed on. Didn’t make the cut early on, committed elsewhere, move on.
Except we moved in.
The young man stayed in touch, I gather, and the staff watched and saw something they didn’t see from his junior year film. This is an area where the “fill the commitment list early” has cost us a lot of talent in recent years.
Welcome, Marcus.
edsp - January 20, 2012
Absolutely agreed.
Wescott Eberts (GoBR) - January 20, 2012
Are you sure?
This seems fairly similar to what happened with guys like Tevin Mims, no?
burntorangehorn - January 20, 2012
Yep. Mims was a late commit/grab
And played as a freshman on the No. 2 or No. 3 team in the country.
Who knows what he might have become? Played one year, missed a year to injury, ran afoul of classroom demands, sayonara.
edsp - January 20, 2012
But why would the previous staff have whiffed?
They demonstrated a willingness to do this kind of thing when they grabbed Mims, Russ, Young, etc. This isn’t something new for the staff.
burntorangehorn - January 21, 2012
Very quietly the third best senior WR in the state of Texas
I expect Johnson to play in 2012. Texas needs him to.
billfromlaketravis - January 20, 2012
Are you considering Sanders an ATH in that list?
As a receiver, I think they are fairly comparable, but I would say that Sanders is a better prospect because he could be an elite DB.
Wescott Eberts (GoBR) - January 20, 2012
Yes classifying Sanders and Coleman as ATHs
billfromlaketravis - January 20, 2012
How do you think Wheeler and Addison compare?
burntorangehorn - January 20, 2012
bold prediction #1:
M. Johnson will be our most successful WR recruit from this WR class(assuming DGB goes elsewhere). I dont know why but he just gets me the most excited out of all of them.
ibleedburntorange49-9 - January 20, 2012
looks good
Best thing i saw from watching that highlight video is his ability to catch passes from a guy that likes to under throw the ball…Should come in handy with the QB’s we have…Looks like he could be a good get for us…lets see.
Fernando Serrano - January 20, 2012
Exactly what I was thinking
With a few better passes, his jumb balls in his video would have easily been TD passes.
TxHorns989 - January 20, 2012
exactly!
he seems like he can jump with everybody for the ball and he has game breaking speed. really excited to see him make a translation to the college level. almost reminds me of a young justin blackmon.
susuata - January 20, 2012
Not the physical presence of Blackmon
Much thinner. But I think he does bring an ability after the catch that Texas doesn’t have much of right now, especially since Mike Davis didn’t show any of the shake as a sophomore he did at times as a freshman. It may have partly been a result of his hip flexor, but there was definitely something wrong.
Wescott Eberts (GoBR) - January 20, 2012
He's about an inch shorter and 10lbs. lighter than Blackmon was at that point, according to the sites
Of course those are often self-reported numbers, just like the 40s and such that are exaggerated. Blackmon certainly made the most of his redshirt year.
burntorangehorn - January 21, 2012
ur right.
But he has that playmaking ability. Where do u see him playing for us? Wideout scatback or defensive back?
susuata - January 20, 2012
Johnson will play flanker.
Could see him being used in the wide receiver screen game, especially if Goodwin doesn’t participate next season. Could use him some in the jet sweep game, as I think he’s a bit faster than Shipley, but maybe not quite as good as Kendall Sanders.
Wescott Eberts (GoBR) - January 21, 2012
give it time
Lets see what Beenie can do to beef him up then he could be a Blackmon type receiver
Fernando Serrano - January 21, 2012
Between the Ears
He appears to have the tools—let’s hope he has it upstairs, unlike many of our latest receivers not named Shipley or Cosby.
2th DK - January 21, 2012
Doesn't have the same frame.
Johnson just doesn’t have the physically imposing body type. And there isn’t necessarily anything wrong with that.
Wescott Eberts (GoBR) - January 21, 2012
daje
So u believe we won’t see him on defense at all? Just curious thought he could step in at db and hold his ground. I don’t mean he will start over diggs or byndum.
susuata - January 21, 2012
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