As spring camp draws near, we enter the home stretch of the new faces around Austin. Today, it’s all about the Miami product on the defensive line, James Johnson. The former Georgia commit flipped to the Longhorns in July and has now made his way to Austin. He joins one of the best and deepest DL rooms in the country and continues Kenny Baker’s streak on the recruiting trail.
Highschool Stats: 101 tackles, 42 TFLs, 12 sacks in two seasons
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Johnson joins the Longhorns from the Sunshine State, joining the parade of elite Florida products to come to Texas. He comes in at 6’3”, 285lbs with elite athletic ability and explosivity. The negative from his high school career has been health. He missed time in his junior and senior seasons with lower body injuries, something that’ll likely need time to get to 100%. He’ll be granted that time with the talent in front of him in the DT/EDGE room.
Johnson, like many of the Longhorns class, has a longer timeline. He’s unlikely to see the field much, if at all, in 2026 but could factor into the rotation in 2027. He’ll have a prime chance to get healthy, learn from the likes of Hero Kanu and Alex January and hit the ground running this time next year. Now, he could move out and fit into the Justus Terry role in Will Muschamp’s offense. That’ll show itself but the future is bright for Johnnson.
Johnson will be given plenty of time to adapt to college football and find his footing. Rocky Cummings enters a LB room that is searching for depth and he’ll have a chance to immediately step up. We’ll get into the Carlsbad product who could surprise some Longhorns fans this spring.
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This article originally appeared on Longhorns Wire: Fresh Faces on the Forty: Johnson adds more athleticism to DL room
