Johnson was recruited to Duke in the 2021 cycle as a mid 3-star (.8426) in the 24/7 composite. He played in all 12 games as a true freshman that year, mostly as a backup and only recording stats in seven of them, but getting his first start in the last game of the year against Miami.
He never relinquished the position, as new head coach Mike Elko (taking over after 14 years of David Cutcliffe) kept Johnson as the starting nickelback throughout the 2022 and 2023 seasons, playing nearly every snap. I acquired and charted the film of those two seasons for this article on Johnson’s final year of eligibility at Oregon.