The RoJo saga comes to an end
After months of speculation about his future, standout DB/WR Ronald Johnson verbally committed to USC today. Although losing out on RoJo is disappointing, it’s certainly not the end of the world. Michigan needed the most help at the cornerback position, and Johnson’s decision to play at USC probably indicates that he’s more interested in playing wide receiver. USC lost both of its star wide receivers (Dwayne Jarrett and Steve Smith) to the NFL and has only one other wide receiver in this year’s recruiting class. Michigan, on the other hand, has an excellent receiving corps returning next season (Mario Manningham, Adrian Arrington, and Greg Mathews), with a solid group of wide receivers among this year’s commitments that RoJo would have to compete with for a starting job (Toney Clemons, Martell Webb, Zion Babb, and Junior Hemmingway). Donovan Warren is a committed cornerback–one of the best in the nation–and his unexpected decision to play at Michigan makes up for losing RoJo. Furthermore, RoJo tore his ACL during his junior season. While it’s true that a 17-year old can bounce back 100% from an ACL injury, RoJo starts his college career with a narrower margin of loss in the injury department than most of his peers. Another injury to that knee could end his career.
Though we probably won’t pull in a top 10 recruiting class this year, all is not lost. We’re still in the running for four-star safety Jerimy Finch, who is deciding between Michigan and Indiana. And as always, anything could happen before signing day. Stay tuned.