Notre Dame football received an extremely welcome surprise tonight, as borderline 5-star wide receiver Jordan Johnson has decided to verbally commit to the Fighting Irish. The 6’2″/180-pounder out of St Louis, MO is the sixth commit to join the Irish Recruiting Class of 2020, and the highest-rated one to date.

 

Those of you who have been following recruiting closely have likely already suspected Johnson would eventually commit to Notre Dame. It became glaringly obvious that the Irish were in the drivers’ seat after Johnson cancelled a visit to Alabama back in January just so he could visit South Bend again. What does come as a surprise, however, is the timing of this commitment. Johnson had a commitment date set up for July 28th, and two other official visits scheduled to occur before that date. This weekend is Jordan’s official visit to Notre Dame, and he apparently decided he didn’t want to hold off any longer.

Recruiting Service Rankings

Rivals — 4 star (5.9 rating), #59 overall, #13 WR, #1 in MO

ESPN — 4 star (85 rating), #38 overall, #5 WR, #1 in MO

247Sports — 4 star (95 rating), #56 overall, #10 WR, #2 in MO

247Sports Composite — 4 star (.9808), #34 overall, #6 WR, #1 in MO

Irish Sports Daily — 4 star (94 rating), #49 in ISD Fab 50

Cohort

Jordan chose the Irish over other offers from Missouri, Texas A&M, USC, Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Oregon, and many others.

Highlights


It’s clear watching Johnson’s tape why he is rated so highly by the recruiting services. He just doesn’t have a weakness in his game.

Speed? Check.

Elite athleticism? Check.

Size and length? Check.

Elite ball skills? Check.

A physical blocking presence? Check.

You almost feel sorry for all those poor high school DBs.

Impact

This is absolutely huge for the Fighting Irish. We’ve been talking for over 3 months now about how Notre Dame lacked the elite playmakers at skill positions necessary to hang with Clemson during the Cotton Bowl. Players like Jordan Johnson are how you close the gap. Assuming this commitment sticks (and his current rankings hold), he is the highest rated receiver since Michael Floyd to commit to the fighting Irish.

It would be quite a surprise if Johnson didn’t see the field in some capacity as a true freshman in 2020. He’s that good right now. Beyond that, it’s always tough to say. But Jordan Johnson has the potential to be an elite college wide receiver. It feels good to pick up a guy like that.