Three things I like about Notre Dame Safety #16 Tae Johnson

Breaking Out

The Notre Dame football roster is full of great players — known and unknown. No matter the place on the depth chart or the recruiting ranking a player had attached to him before his arrival at Notre Dame — there are probably some things I really like about him. So over the course of the next few months, let’s take a positive approach to running down the roster.

Almost daily (just being honest) I’ll list three things I like about a single player on the roster, and as an additional bonus, I’ll post some extra pics over on the OFD Instagram account (be sure to follow RIGHT HERE).

Next up…

#16 Tae Johnson — Safety

The recruitment of Tae Johnson was a little odd to me — someone who has followed and covered Notre Dame football recruiting for almost 20 years (but more on that in just a bit). The 6’2” 193 pound sophomore from North Side High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana, was truly a national recruit and held offers from the Auburn Tigers, Deion Sanders with the Colorado Buffaloes, Penn State Nittany Lions and more. He was classified as an athlete because he was also an incredible receiver in high school.

Here are three things I like about Tae Johnson:

1. He is from Fort Wayne.

The only intangible that’s more important to me than being from Ohio (where I played ball) is being from Fort Wayne (where I was born and where my family is from). It’s not just that Johnson is from the Summit City — it’s that he came to ND via North Side. While the River Rats have a strong athletic history, the Irish normally pull it’s recruits from the City of Churches via Bishop Luers and Bishop Dwenger. Football players from North Side, South Side, Snider, Homestead, Northrup, and more aren’t normally on the reader — Johnson made it happen.

2. He is a dual athlete.

I’m not talking about any other sport here — I’m just focusing on his ability to play both sides of the ball. In some ways he’s a poor man’s Kyle Hamilton (or a betting man’s Tae Johnson). Basically… Notre Dame could use him in various ways which always increases the value of a player.

3. He is in the mix.

Despite losing Xavier Watts to the NFL, Notre Dame isn’t hurting at safety for next season. Adon Shuler is a star in the making, and after a very strong spring, Johnson could start alongside Shuler over guys like Luke Talich and DeVonta Smith. He might be really, really good.