Will Johnson was ranked No. 9 and rated as the second-best cornerback on Yahoo Sports’ big board for the 2025 NFL Draft. (He was the top pure corner on the board with Travis Hunter being viewed as a two-way player.)
Anticipating the Michigan defensive back would be a top pick, Johnson was among the players invited to Green Bay for the draft, presuming that he’d walk on stage, be greeted by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and hold up the jersey of the team that drafted him for a photo opportunity.
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Yet Johnson fell out of the first round and 15 picks into the second round, where he was finally drafted with the No. 47 selection by the Arizona Cardinals on Friday.
Johnson only played in six games for the Wolverines last season due to a turf toe injury. But concerns about his knee are what caused teams to pass on him until the second around, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
When he did play in 2024, Johnson still made an impact. He returned both of his interceptions for touchdowns, made one tackle for loss and compiled 14 total tackles with five pass breakups. During his three seasons in Ann Arbor, Johnson collected nine interceptions (three of them returned for TDs) with 68 total tackles in 32 games.
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At 6-foot-1 and 194 pounds, he’s considered to be the ideal size for an NFL cornerback, able to handle receivers physically while also sticking close to them in zone and man coverage. As Nate Tice and Charles McDonald detailed in their scouting report for Yahoo Sports, Johnson doesn’t have exceptional speed (and didn’t run a 40-yard dash during the pre-draft process) but makes up for that with technique.
“Johnson doesn’t have elite long speed, and his physicality is more “OK” than “good,” but he’s a fluid athlete who doesn’t get put in bad positions because of his ability to turn and run and ability to close on the football. There will be some questions about Johnson’s inconsistent 2024 season and his injury history that teams are figuring out, but he has the upside to be a true No. 1 cornerback at the next level in a variety of schemes.”
Joining the Cardinals also means Johnson is now teammates with Marvin Harrison Jr., with whom he battled in two Michigan-Ohio State clashes. (Harrison did just fine in the matchup, notching a combined 12 receptions for 238 yards and two TDs.)
On social media, Arizona noted the adversaries now being on the same team. They can now spend at least the next few seasons paying off friendly wagers on The Game in public to the media.
