Ohio State football’s Jakailin Johnson pushing past his frustrating, one-game freshman

On Apr 9, 2022

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Jakailin Johnson, celebrating his first Ohio State football tackle last Sept. 25, stood over Akron receiver Konata Mumpfield and gloated exactly long enough to ruin the moment.

The officials threw an unsportsmanlike conduct flag. Buckeye coach Ryan Day pulled the cornerback back to the sideline for a terse conversation. The former top-50 prospect from St. Louis returned a few plays later with the worst of his college debut presumably behind him.

On the contrary. After Johnson next made contact, throwing his left shoulder into receiver Tony Grimes Jr., his whole left arm went limp at his side. He played out the rest of garbage time, but those eight snaps comprised his entire season of work.

That second hit fractured Johnson’s left shoulder. While fellow freshman corner Denzel Burke started all 13 games and another, Jordan Hancock, played in several games, Johnson healed and watched.

“This is the game I love for real,” Johnson said. “So not being able to practice and just watching everybody, all my friends and teammates — I was kind of messed up. I wanted them to be the best they could be, and I’m over there working and watching them to get back on the field as soon as possible.”

Ohio State did not go into last season counting on Johnson. That changes in 2022. The cornerback room includes only six scholarship players, and two are true freshmen. One injury or illness quickly depletes the group’s fragile experience level.

Johnson and Hancock must step up and provide legitimate, game-worthy depth behind Burke and Brown. Dating back to the start of spring practices, coaches and teammates have insisted the young corners are coming.

“I didn’t know them in the past, but I see them as becoming mature,” defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said. “Really athletic guys — quick as I watched them in the offseason work. And they have a willingness to get better and to take coaching, whether that’s in the weight room. So I just think there’s a ton of potential there.”

The shoulder injury paused Johnson’s development. As he neared health, the defensive coaching staff turned over, and the Buckeyes’ two previous secondary coaches — Matt Barnes and Kerry Coombs — departed.

He still rattled off a checklist of improvements this offseason. He weighed 167 for the Akron game, but says he is closer to 185 today. Yet he also feels faster, and said he can get out of his breaks quicker, among other technical strides.

Of course, there are the lessons he learned the hard way against Akron. They were reinforced as he watched his first season of Big Ten football up close.

“You ain’t always got to make a big hit,” Johnson said. “You can just get them down right there. It ain’t always got to be a big collision.”

Johnson will finally get a chance to put that maturing mindset to work this fall — and he likely will not need to wait until the final minutes of the fourth quarter.

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