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Five-Star Irish Commit Johnson On System Fit, Recruiting Others, More

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Five-star wide receiver Jordan Johnson committed to Notre Dame in April.
Five-star wide receiver Jordan Johnson committed to Notre Dame in April. (Nick Lucero/Rivals.com)
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Jordan Johnson no longer has to worry about constant calls and messages.

The five-star wide receiver out of De Smet (Mo.) gave Notre Dame a verbal pledge in early April. With his commitment fully locked in, Johnson has had an opportunity to really focus on bettering his craft this offseason.

Johnson completely dominated at the Rivals Challenge in St. Louis last month and earned his fifth star this week.

“The offseason has been great,” Johnson said. “I’m committed and know where I’m going, so now, I’m just focused on my body, getting healthy and getting ready for my senior season.”

For Johnson, the decision to side with Notre Dame was an easy one.

Johnson made his official visit to South Bend and fell in love with the program. He committed before getting back on the plane ride to Missouri.

“Notre Dame is home,” Johnson said. “The relationship I built with the coaches is strong. It just felt like it was meant to be. It was an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up, so I pulled the trigger and shut everything down.”

Johnson picked Notre Dame over offers from Alabama, Florida, LSU, Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Texas and a slew of other major programs.

A big reason for that was system fit. Johnson has an athletic build with elite speed. He can run every route on the tree and go deep. If he continues on his upward trajectory, Johnson could make an immediate impact at Notre Dame.

“The way the offense is setup, they allow their receivers to get downfield,” Johnson said. “They kind of run and gun it. The receivers catch a lot of balls. I think it’s a great fit for me. I see myself fitting in wherever they need me.

“They are going to let me take the top off and go high post a lot. A lot of the things I’ve talked to with Coach (Del) Alexander are about high pointing the ball and getting deep.”

Johnson added that he models his game after Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Stefon Diggs.

“I can see myself doing a lot of things that Stefon Diggs does,” Johnson said. “I try to run my routes and do some of the things he does. He’s explosive. He attacks the ball. I feel like he’s the person I would be like.”

Johnson is excited to get to Notre Dame down the line and is already building a strong relationship with his future teammates, including quarterback pledge Drew Pyne.

“Drew is a dog,” Johnson said. “He can throw it. He has a good ball. All the commits have a SnapChat group chat, so we are talking all the time. I feel like we are all building a good relationship.”

While Pyne has been the ringleader of recruiting others to Notre Dame, Johnson is doing his part as well.

“I’m trying to get AJ (Henning),” Johnson said. “I’m working on a lot of other guys like JK (Jakailin Johnson). My pitch is usually about the national television contract and playing for the best in the country. You also can’t go wrong academic wise. You’ll be straight for life.”

Johnson plans to visit Notre Dame at some point this summer.

At 6-foot-2, 182 pounds, Johnson is ranked as the No. 19 overall prospect in the country, per Rivals.com.

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