Texas lands their 2019 class leader more than a year before 2019 signing day.
by Patrick Mayhorn
July 22, 2017
Last night was a big night for MENSA member Tom Herman (as a media member I am legally obligated to mention that Tom Herman is in MENSA), as Texas landed two massive targets. Their big night started with cornerback and longtime Texas lean Jalen Green pulling the trigger, and committing to the Longhorns over LSU, Ohio State, Oregon and Penn State. It concluded in the 2019 class, with an equally big target: Port Neches, Texas quarterback Roschon Johnson. It’s always important to have a leader in a recruiting class, and for Texas to get theirs so early is huge news for the Texas 2019 class.
Johnson is the first commitment in Texas 2019 class, and will be the only quarterback in the class. The Longhorns currently hold two quarterback commitments in their 2018 class, so for Tom Herman to have three future signal callers lined up and ready to go will allow for him to focus his recruiting energy elsewhere in the 2018 and 2019 classes.
One issue with only looking to take one quarterback in the 2019 class for Texas is that they will now almost certainly miss out on Allen, Texas quarterback Grant Tisdale to Ohio State. Tisdale is close with five-star wide receiver Theo Wease and five-star running back Noah Cain, two Texas targets, and the likely loss of Grant to Ohio State has led some to predict the trio to all spurn the Longhorns for Urban Meyer and Ohio State. Only time will tell.
Johnson picked Texas over Penn State, TCU, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Baylor, Florida, Florida State, Ohio State, Oregon, North Carolina and Oklahoma. Texas was long thought of as being the favorite in Johnson’s recruitment, but the biggest question wasn’t if he would pick Texas, it was if Texas would pick him over the aforementioned Grant Tisdale. Ultimately, it comes down to preference for Tom Herman, and he prefers Johnson.
It’s not hard to see why Tom Herman likes Roschon Johnson. He threw for 2,318 yards and 26 touchdowns last year, and added an additional 1,650 yards and 30 (!!!) touchdowns on the ground. He’s a bit more of a proven entity than Tisdale is, and while his ceiling may be a bit lower, at least as a passer, Johnson is a fantastic playmaker and should give Tom Herman the dual-threat quarterback he had with a guy like Braxton Miller at Ohio State. Johnson needs to improve his accuracy, but he has the raw arm talent to be very good in Austin. His ceiling comparison is Braxton Miller, albeit without the pure top end speed, and with a better understanding of reading a defense.
THE JOHNSON FILE
| Name | POS | Location | HT | WT | Committed | Rivals | Scout | 247Sports |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roschon Johnson | QB | Port Neches, TX | 6-1 | 192 | 7/21/2017 | **** 5.8 | **** | **** .9478 |
