Buckeye Football Freshman Focus — Cornerback Tyreke Johnson
This is the first of 25 or so pieces on Ohio State’s incoming freshmen over the next 25 or so weeks. I plan on taking a closer look at each of the newest Buckeyes every week, and first up is Jacksonville (Trinity Christian Academy) defensive back Tyreke Johnson.
A 5-star prospect, Johnson is ranked the No. 1 safety and the No. 21 player overall per the 247Sports Composite. He is already enrolled at Ohio State.
At 6-foot-1 and 191 pounds, Johnson has safety size, but he will start out at cornerback for the Buckeyes. How long he stays there is up to him. We have seen other corners — like Tyvis Powell, Damon Webb, and Jordan Fuller — all make a successful move to safety in the past. Johnson’s potential as a big corner — like Jeff Okudah and Shaun Wade — is too intriguing to bypass right out of the gates, however.
What To Like
As I mentioned, he’s a legit big cornerback, but he is also fast. We will see if he has the hips and feet to play corner, but the Buckeyes believe he’ll be just fine. He played corner and safety in high school, and is a football magnet at either spot.
Simply put, he finds the football.
He has experience playing any number of coverages, but for Ohio State’s purposes, the experience in press coverage is what they like about him. There will be plenty of technique to clean up and work on, but there are some natural abilities that will allow him to eventually get it done.
Johnson is a very physical defender who will need to improve his wrapping, but that’s to be expected. The good news for the Buckeyes is that he sees physicality as a perk, and it shows. He is physically advanced for a true freshman, which will help keep him from being held back due to a need to add strength or weight. It will obviously still depend on how well he responds to Kerry Coombs’ teaching that determines his role on Ohio State’s team this coming season.
The Potential
Tyreke Johnson is also a punter and he might just be the best punter I have ever seen. Move over J.K. Scott.
Entire article:
https://theozone.net/2018/01/buckeye-football-freshman-focus-tyreke-johnson/