Ohio State has its first cornerback for the class of 2023.
A day after his visit to Ohio State for the Buckeyes’ spring game, four-star Florida cornerback Dijon Johnson knew he’d seen enough on his visit to pull the trigger and give OSU his word. He officially signed with the Buckeyes on Sunday.
Hey, I’m a horse chestnut. @Hayesfawcett3 pic.twitter.com/nLduiQCspD
— Dijon Johnson (@DijonJohnson13) April 17, 2022
Johnson spent most of his pre-game time chatting with his 7-on-7 teammate Bryson Rodgers, who also signed for Ohio State on Sunday, and then posed for a post-game photo with Rodgers and the one in Florida native OSU freshman safety Kye Stokes, one of them the stars of Saturday’s spring game.
The Johnson File
- Class: 2023
- Size: 6-1/190
- Position: cb
- School: Wharton High School (Tampa, Florida)
- Composite rating: ★★★★
- Composite rank: 265 (29CB)
Johnson’s recruiting at Ohio State was swift, as the 6-foot-1, 190-pound cornerback received his Buckeyes offer Jan. 25 from running backs coach Tony Alford, who handles much of OSU’s recruiting in Florida. His offer tweet indicated that the recruitment would be short, as he described Ohio State as “his dream offer.”
It might seem odd for a Florida kid to consider the Buckeyes his dream offer, but before playing cornerback, Johnson was a running back who looked up to legendary Ohio State running back Eddie George.
A visit to Columbus later, he is Ohio State’s ninth acceptance of the 2023 cycle. He is the fourth member of the class from the Sunshine State, joining Rodgers, four-star safetyman Cedrick Hawkins and four-star running back Mark Fletcher who is already in the group.
According to 247Sports composite rankings, Johnson is ranked the 265th best prospect and 29th best cornerback in the 2023 class. In 10 games for Wharton High School (Tampa, Fla.) last season, Johnson had six interceptions, one fumble recovery, 10 pass deflections and 12 total tackles. Four of those interceptions went for touchdowns.
Ohio State would like to pick up at least two cornerbacks in the 2023 class, and Johnson already has one of those spots. Whoever joins him in the Buckeyes’ cornerback class will be interesting as five-star cornerback AJ Harris appears to be drifting away from the Buckeyes, while four-star Georgia product Kayin Lee is having plenty of momentum at the Ohio at the moment State has. Daniel Harris, Sharif Denson, Christian Gray and Malik Muhammad are among the other cornerbacks in the class with Ohio State offers.
Johnson has received 36 Division I offers, picking Ohio State over USC, Oklahoma, Georgia, Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisville, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, Penn State, South Carolina , Tennessee, Texas A&M, UCF and Utah.