What happened to Michigan’s All-American cornerback Will Johnson?

Why did Will Johnson slide to the Cardinals at pick #47?

Following Michigan’s FBS Championship stunning 34-13 win over the University of Washington, had the 2024 NFL Draft taken place a week later, and had All-Amercian and FBS Championship Game Defensive MVP Will Johnson been eligible, he would have been the #1 ranked CB in the draft, and most likely a sure-fire Top 10 pick.

The first CB taken in the 2024 NFL Draft was Quinyon Mitchell of Toledo who was selected at pick #22 by the Philadelphia Eagles. Mitchell turned in a fantastic rookie season, helping the Eagles win Super Bowl LIX. However, it would have very difficult to imagine that any NFL team would have ranked Mitchell higher than Will Johnson, given how brilliantly Johnson played under the brightest of lights at Michigan.

Following Michigan’s Natty, Jim Harbaugh jumped back into the NFL as HC of the Los Angeles Chargers. Harbaugh’s replacement was Sherrone Moore, the Wolverine’s OC under Harbaugh and interim HC when Harbaugh was suspended.

In 2024, Michigan, having lost QB J.J. McCarthy, RB Blake Corum, WR Roman Wilson, G Zak Zinter and TE A.J. Barner was going to have rely even more heavily on their vaunted defense that was returning DT Mason Graham, CB Will Johnson, NT Kenneth Grant and ED Josiah Stweart and S Rod Moore.

As it turned out, Michigan, by their standards, had a rough season in 2024, finishing 7th in the Big Ten with a 5-4 conference record and 8-5 overall, including their two best wins of the season, a gritty 13-10 upset of the eventual national champion Ohio St. and their impressive 19-13 win over Alabama in the ReliaQuest Bowl.

While the Michigan defense remained one of the best and most intimidating defenses in the country, they played the majority of their games without Will Johnsons due to shoulder and toe injuries.

Chronical of Will Johnson’s injuries:

• 2022 —- knee injury —- played through it —- 14 games
• Spring 2023 —- knee surgery —- “Johnson had an osteochondral autograft procedure, which involved transplanting healthy bone and cartilage from another part of his knee to repair damaged areas” (per Wikipedia) —- missed 1st three games of Michigan’s championship season —- played 12 games
• September 2024 —- shoulder injury —- caused him to miss 1 game
• October 2024 —- suffered ligament tears in his toe —- out for season after playing 6 games
• February 2024 —-hamstring injury at the Combine —- did not work out
• April 2024 —- at his personal Pro Day, he elected not to run the 40, yet ran a 4.33 short shuttle and popped a 33.5” vertical —- and looked smooth in position drills —- but left scouts wondering whether he was 100% healthy.
• April 2024 —- during the draft:

Why Michigan CB Will Johnson fell out of the 1st round of the NFL Draft - Maize n Brew

There are always twists and turns on Day 1 of the [***NFL...