Michigan Football: Don’t sleep on freshman WR Cornelius Johnson

Michigan football has a bunch of talented freshmen joining the team in 2019, but one guy that can’t be overlooked is four-star wideout, Cornelius Johnson.

There is no question that the Michigan football program has a number of incoming freshmen that are expected to make a positive impact this season.

It starts with five-star safety Daxton Hill, who many believe will be starting for the Wolverines before too long. Maybe he won’t ascend to the No. 1 safety spot by Middle Tennessee State, but it will happen soon enough.

Zach Charbonnet is another name to watch at running back, as well as Mike Sainristil and Giles Jackson at receiver, Chris Hinton and Mazi Smith on the defensive line and Nolan Rumler at guard.

Those are the guys that have been getting a lot of mentions early, but another freshman that is turning heads in fall camp so far is former four-star wideout Cornelius Johnson.

For some reason, Johnson does get forgotten about when it comes to this 2019 class, but he shouldn’t be. He was ranked as the 176th overall prospect in his class and 26th at his position. And because he played in Connecticut, he might be underrated.

The 6-foot-2 Johnson dominated his competition in high school and at the Army All-American game, he caught two touchdown passes, which was the first clue that Michigan football might have found something special.

And on Thursday, Steve Lorenz of The Michigan Insider, noted that Josh Gattis, the Wolverines offensive coordinator mentioned Johnson is his meeting with media. Lorenz also noted it wasn’t the first time good things about Johnson have trickled out of camp.

While most Michigan football fans have focused on Sainristil and Jackson, the two freshmen that should make an immediate impact in the slot, as 5-foot-10 terrors, Johnson fits the more traditional mold of a perimeter wide receiver.

And for the Wolverines, that’s a good thing. Donovan Peoples-Jones, Nico Collins and maybe even Tarik Black, although he is just a redshirt sophomore, could leave after this season. I expect all, if they remain healthy, to breakout.

Maybe Black won’t get enough opportunities to head the NFL yet, saving him for one more season, but there is little doubt that someone like Johnson will need to step up in 2020, to possibly even assume a starting job.

That pressure won’t be on Johnson this year. However, he could be a secret weapon of sorts. Much of the focus from opposing teams will be on Collins, DPJ, Black, even Ronnie Bell and the two dynamic slot guys.

Johnson might be overlooked. He will certainly have a tough time climbing over Black or even Bell on the depth chart. However, he is a legitimate deep threat and it wouldn’t be shocking to see him make some explosive plays this season, as a precursor to what he will do in 2020.