Junior College offensive tackle Jahmir Johnson continues to be a hot commodity. The Arizona Western product picked up an offer from the Texas Longhorns this week, increasing his already-lengthy list of scholarships. Johnson is trying not to think about recruiting at the moment, but that should change in the coming days and fans will have a much better idea on which schools he’s considering.
Johnson and his Arizona Western C.C. teammates play East Mississippi Community College on Sunday for the NJCAA Football Championship Game. After that contest is settled, Johnson says he’ll start to sort through his options.
The 6-6, 290-pound Johnson has already visited Arkansas. He has a trip to Missouri set up for December 8. Other schools, including Texas, will battle it out for his remaining visits.
“I like Texas. Texas is big. Everybody has been talking about Texas, what they bring to the table, how they improve their players, especially o-linemen,” Johnson said. “I’m really interested in Texas.
“I told the coaches I would let them know where I’m going (to visit). Our national championship game is this Sunday, then I’ll let everyone know where I’ll be taking my visits.”
Johnson said he landed on the Longhorns’ radar when tight ends coach Corby Meekins came to visit one-time Texas tight end commitment Dominick Anderson. He noticed Johnson’s performance, Texas watched his tape and things progressed from there. Meekins and offensive line coach Derek Warehime visited Arizona Western last week and an offer was extended.
“They came to see me in person on Tuesday, stayed with me a long time. Then we had a good talk, they said they like my game, things like that, what I can bring to the table, my attitude,” Johnson said.
Originally out of Philadelphia, Johnson attended Rhode Island for a year, where he redshirted, before enrolling at Arizona Western. He’ll have three years to play three seasons of Division I football.
“Out of high school, I had to wait until the end to quality. The only school that was going to wait for me was Rhode Island, I but didn’t really want to go to Rhode Island. It just wasn’t the place for me,” Johnson said. “I just felt like I needed to get out of there, wanted something better for me. My best friend (current Missouri offensive lineman Yasir Durant) played right tackle at high school, he went to Arizona Western, came out successful. He said he had an opportunity for me to showcase my talents (at Arizona Western) so I went there.”
Wherever he lands, Johnson will be looking for place that will allow him early playing time. Texas could afford that opportunity with the Longhorns appearing to possess very little offensive line depth for the 2018 season, and the Texas coaches expressed to Johnson the opportunities that UT can provide.
“They said I can come in and compete for a spot early. They said they watched me practice, things like that, liked what they saw,” Johnson said. “I guess they were excited about that. They’re ready for me to come on board. They were just happy.”
Johnson is rated as a three-star prospect by Rivals.com.
