Ohio State Football: Jaylen Johnson feels great following season-ending injury

Jaylen Johnson missed his entire freshman year with the Buckeyes after tearing his ACL in training camp last August. The Cincinnati product joined the Ohio State football program in June before going down with a season-ending injury just over a month later. Johnson is back to full strength now and hopes to carve out a consistent role on special teams or elsewhere in 2022.

“I’m honestly happy I had the injury this season, it made me appreciate my career more. It also added fuel to my fire. This injury showed me how something that you love can be taken away from you very fast,” Johnson explained to me in a recent interview. “My knee is feeling great, I love the direction that I am heading. Hoping for a very peaceful recovery.”

The 6’1 safety and linebacker graduated from La Salle High School in 2021, finishing his senior season with 55 tackles after compiling 61 tackles and a forced fumble the year before. Johnson, a 3-star prospect according to 247 Sports, helped lead his team to a state championship and was named to the 2020 MaxPreps All-Ohio team as a junior.

He can play multiple positions defensively and has great timing, impressive closing speed, and is an extremely physical tackler. 247 Sports national recruiting analyst Allen Trieu also broke down Johnson’s ability: “Shows burst and short-area explosion. Hits with power as well. He has the speed to play strong safety or as a hybrid in college.”

Johnson could play the bullet position with the Buckeyes similarly to Kourt Williams, who coincidentally also missed his freshman season with a torn ACL in 2020. Ohio State’s newly hired defensive coordinator Jim Knowles will certainly have a ton of talent to work with after coming off a surprisingly dominant season at Oklahoma State.

“Coach Knowles seems like a man about his business. He seems very intelligent from the way he presented himself. I do believe that he can help improve our defense,” Johnson told me. “No disrespect to Oklahoma State but they don’t have the athletes we have. I hope that we can all get ready to work and be a top defense in college football.”

The Ohio State football team had the 59th ranked defense in the country last season with Kerry Coombs and Matt Barnes splitting time as play-caller. Now that Ryan Day has completely revamped his defensive staff during the offseason, the Buckeyes are hoping to have a significant jump under Knowles, who led the 5th ranked defense at Oklahoma State in 2021.