William Johnson (born March 29, 2003) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

for the

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisio ...

. He was the No. 1 recruit in Michigan for the 2022 recruiting class.

Early life and high school career

Johnson was born in 2003 and grew up in

Grosse Pointe Grosse Pointe refers to an affluent coastal area next to Detroit, Michigan, United States, that comprises five adjacent individual cities. From southwest to northeast, they are: *Grosse Pointe Park *Grosse Pointe *Grosse Pointe Farms *Grosse Poi ...

. His father, Deon Johnson, was a cornerback for Michigan in the 1990s. Johnson played high school football at

Grosse Pointe South High School Grosse Pointe South High School is a public high school of state and national historical significance serving the Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe. Originally known as Grosse Pointe High School when it opened in 1928, the school adopted its curr ...

. As a senior, he had 45 tackles, including 31 solo tackles, and 12 pass breakups. He was rated as the No. 1 player in Michigan by 247Sports, ESPN, and Rivals.com.

College career

In February 2021, Johnson committed to Michigan's 2022 recruiting class. He also had offers from, among others, Ohio State, USC, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M. He was one of the first Michigan recruits to benefit from new rule allowing players to be compensated for use of their name and likeness. He enrolled early at Michigan in January 2022 and participated in winter conditioning. He impressed in spring practice and was described as being position to play early in the fall of 2022. He became a starter as a true freshman, and at the end of the season, he was named to

Pro Football Focus Pro Football Focus (also written as ProFootballFocus, and often referred to by its initials, PFF) is a sports analytics company that focuses on thorough analysis of the National Football League (NFL) and NCAA Division-I football in the United Sta ...

's PFF True Freshman All-America team.

References

External links

Michigan Wolverines bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Wil 2003 births Living people American football cornerbacks Michigan Wolverines football players Players of American football from Michigan