It was something of an up-and-down career in Ann Arbor for Michigan football wide receiver Cornelius Johnson, but fans will always remember the big plays he made in some of the biggest games.
A former four-star from Connecticut, Johnson is a precise route-runner and a big-bodied receiver who improved yearly for the Wolverines. While he sometimes suffered from drops, he often made up for it. Even in certain games, such as in 2022 at Indiana when he had early drops, he ended up taking over, scoring two touchdowns.
However, the two-touchdown performance that’s likely to resonate most with Michigan football fans is his game at Ohio State in 2022. Johnson had two long scores — one a catch and run and the other a bomb he caught after shaking the safety in the open field.
In 2023, he was steady and reliable. He only got into the end zone once all year (a circus catch against Bowling Green), but he often was the recipient of quarterback J.J. McCarthy’s third-and-long passes, extending the chains with regularity.
Now Johnson is NFL-bound, having been selected by the Los Angeles Chargers in the seventh round of the 2024 NFL draft with the 253rd pick. He reteams with Jim Harbaugh in Los Angeles.
Johnson is the 13th Michigan football player selected in this year’s draft. While he might not have been a statistical leader for the Wolverines over the course of his tenure, the maize and blue will miss his general reliability to go along with his stellar route running.