DJ Johnson in Transfer Portal

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There's a few things that make me scratch my head regarding the DBs, but until Phil royally fucks something up, I'm going to assume he's got a handle on it.

I agree. If this were any other position I'd be much concerned. Having said that, it's not as though Phil Parker is immune to criticism. Parker, and the play of Moss (I don't even blame Moss, he never should have been put in that position) costed us a win against Purdue a couple years ago.
 
The majority of guys don't want to wait around for an injury, particularly some that are highly recruited. In their minds, the clock is ticking and they want to get on the field.
If it's about wanting more playing time and a guy doesn't see it coming or doesn't want to take the risk that it won't happen, then I'm fine. If it's a dissatisfaction with the program, unrelated to their personal dissatisfaction because of the lack on PT, then I'd be more concerned. It appears to be the former.

Too bad he didn't get a chance to compete this spring and see how he stacks up against the others, that might have given him more information before he had to make the call. In that way, I'm assuming he had to put his name in before the semester starts or he'd be committed to staying with the Hawks this fall, and he didn't want to take the chance. I can see the lack of spring practice forcing his hand, leave and start over, or hang in there and try to compete this fall for PT, but if you can't get there, then you're with the program for another year but still on the sidelines.
 
This is the biggest surprise of anyone that has entered the portal this cycle.

You can never have too many DBs plus he had experience.

He must not have liked his chances. He'll have to sit out a year unless he's ready to go to FCS.
 
Well I guess I called that one. At least according to DJ this isn’t a playing time issue.

We likely won’t ever know the real reason but it stinks to lose a guy like that with talent and some experience.
 
This just begs for speculation. Not sure he helped himself with this statement.
I agree with your statement here. I don’t think that tweet helped him at all like he thought it would. Now people want to know what the issue is.

Kind of similar to one of Barta’s recent PR blunders where he said something that just created tons of more speculation.
 
I agree with your statement here. I don’t think that tweet helped him at all like he thought it would. Now people want to know what the issue is.

Kind of similar to one of Barta’s recent PR blunders where he said something that just created tons of more speculation.
You should see some of the stuff my kid tweets. Further support why Kirk doesn't let them tweet. They don't always (rarely?) think it through. My two cents - Twitter, what a crappy invention, and belongs in the "just because you can do something doesn't mean you should" category.
 
Kirk is due for a West title and a shot at the conference title. It’s difficult to really get into recruiting when your always looking up Wisconsin pie hole.

I am assuming that Minnesota lost a lot of players to graduation so we will have a clear shot at Wisconsin this year. Come to think of it didn’t Wisconsin have some key players move on also?

Just saying Kirk is way over due one way or the other. $hit or get off the pot. Even though we had a good season last year there is nothing like winning a division title and playing for a conference title. You have to win the conference title if your are EVER going to play with the B1G dogs. Hard to get excited settling for puppy status season after season after season. The streak needs to stop at sixteen seasons in a row without a conference title. Of course it all starts with winning the West first.
 

I talked off the record with DJ, so not surprised by the Tweet. I won't share what he told me because I told him I wouldn't. He just wasn't happy here. It is what it is.
 
I talked off the record with DJ, so not surprised by the Tweet. I won't share what he told me because I told him I wouldn't. He just wasn't happy here. It is what it is.
His reasons are his reasons, although I would add that playing more is a good balm for the other things that can ail a player.
 
Well said. Stinks to lose him for sure.


For the recruiting aspect I still think there is something there. I love what the staff has done recruiting overall, but CB is the one position I can’t really figure out. We know recruiting rankings aren’t the end all be all and PP has had success with lower rated guys, but nonetheless I do think rankings and offers mean at least something. After we lose Hankins next year look at our CB room.

Brents (solid recruit)
Moss (preferred walk on?)
Roberts (low rated no P5 offers)
Harris (late signee, low rated, no P5 offers)
McKinney (low rated / Mac offers)
Deasfernades (very under the radar/ no offers)
Lawson (Minnesota offer)

We are recruiting very well at nearly every other position, but still just going under the radar here. We’ve recently produced Thorpe winners and NFL guys but can’t seem to start getting higher level talent at this spot.
Yeah, our CB recruiting has been a little sketchy. Kind of like with offensive line (until recently), we haven't really recruited at a level you would expect with our program's success at those positions.

I do think we have a lot of positional flexibility, though. Keagon Johnson is a bit of a Micah Hyde clone and could end up at DB (though I personally would prefer we take advantage of his ball skills on offense), and DeJean is a sneaky good athlete that could slide to corner. Some have speculated that Bruce also could end up at corner.

Something has to give at safety. We have plenty of athleticism there that needs to shake itself out.
 
Yeah, our CB recruiting has been a little sketchy. Kind of like with offensive line (until recently), we haven't really recruited at a level you would expect with our program's success at those positions.

I do think we have a lot of positional flexibility, though. Keagon Johnson is a bit of a Micah Hyde clone and could end up at DB (though I personally would prefer we take advantage of his ball skills on offense), and DeJean is a sneaky good athlete that could slide to corner. Some have speculated that Bruce also could end up at corner.

Something has to give at safety. We have plenty of athleticism there that needs to shake itself out.
Agree. The safety spot looks really good with Belton/Bracy/DeJean in consecutive classes. Bracy was getting some high SEC interest after committing. DeJean currently rated top 150 by 247.

We just have to trust PP to figure out the corner spot. I’ve been high on Brents so hopefully he stays healthy and produces this year. Sounds like we might be able to get Oladokun back in the fold for the 2021 class. With this transfer the staff might look to add another corner in this class.
 
Agree. The safety spot looks really good with Belton/Bracy/DeJean in consecutive classes. Bracy was getting some high SEC interest after committing. DeJean currently rated top 150 by 247.

We just have to trust PP to figure out the corner spot. I’ve been high on Brents so hopefully he stays healthy and produces this year. Sounds like we might be able to get Oladokun back in the fold for the 2021 class. With this transfer the staff might look to add another corner in this class.
I'd be surprised if Oladokun ends up here. If so, fine, but there's some bad vibes surrounding him.
 
I talked off the record with DJ, so not surprised by the Tweet. I won't share what he told me because I told him I wouldn't. He just wasn't happy here. It is what it is.

Not saying this is the reason, but Phil Parker isn’t for everyone. Hell, OJ lost his job at least once every year and that guy was a 3rd round pick. Some guys just don’t like Phil’s style...and that’s okay.
 
I agree. If this were any other position I'd be much concerned. Having said that, it's not as though Phil Parker is immune to criticism. Parker, and the play of Moss (I don't even blame Moss, he never should have been put in that position) costed us a win against Purdue a couple years ago.

Moss didn't cost us the win. He and Brents were both getting roasted as true freshmen by a pass-happy, all-verts offense. It is not like Phil wanted them in there, we were down our 2 starting CBs to injury (OJ and Hankins), Rugamba had just transferred before the year, and J. Jackson had left early for NFL. With all of that, Iowa had a 4th quarter lead, and probably would have held on if not for...
  • Iowa was 0/2 on two-point conversions in a game they lost by 2
  • the first two offensive holding penalties of the game being called within a 3 play span on Iowa's last drive (turning 2nd and 8 into 1st and 20, and then turning 3rd and 7 into 2nd and 24)
  • a 31 yard punt setting up Purdue at the 50 for their game-winning drive (those hidden penalty yards didn't help, moving Iowa from at one point a 2nd and 8 from the 30 to a 4th and 19 at the 19)
  • A Blough 4th down conversion run on the winning drive (4th and 2)
  • A PI call on Brents after Iowa had forced Purdue into 2nd and 18 from the 31
Yes, Moss got roasted a few times in that game, but there was plenty of blame to go around.

I don't get the Moss hate some have. He got burned a few times as a true freshman, but he was always in position (just didn't get head/hands around). He is probably the fastest guy in the DB room. He has good size. He played well last year after coming back from a pretty bad injury. And the coaches definitely seem to trust him the most out of the younger guys.
 
Agree. The safety spot looks really good with Belton/Bracy/DeJean in consecutive classes. Bracy was getting some high SEC interest after committing. DeJean currently rated top 150 by 247.

We just have to trust PP to figure out the corner spot. I’ve been high on Brents so hopefully he stays healthy and produces this year. Sounds like we might be able to get Oladokun back in the fold for the 2021 class. With this transfer the staff might look to add another corner in this class.

Castro is also in there, and of course the guy who started last year as a true sophomore (Merriweather) and the guy who replaced him as a redshirt sophomore (Koerner). Heck, Craddieth has kind of gotten lost in the shuffle, but he is only going into his RS soph year and was highly rated. For some the switch flips on later than others.
 
I get it but you are always just an injury away from getting some PT. Look how many guys we were down last year at the beginning of the year. Lots of things can happen pretty quickly. Too bad as he seemed like a good kid, hope he does well wherever he land
Exactly. Many guys did go down last year and he still struggled to see the field as the season went on. Koerner has a vice grip on a safety position now, Belton is apparently settling in at Cash, and it reverberates through the rest of the defensive backfield.

The most important piece isn't going anywhere and that's Coach Parker. He will have this under control.
 
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