New Commitment - Eric Johnson

[StangEsq]

Why have the local papers left Johnson off their area lists? Was he not very highly thought of going into the season? Looks like his stats are impressive enough for a big school. What kind of talent does he have around him on O?

[KLBLAX00]

Here's the deal on Plano West QB Eric Johnson.
He lead an unranked at the begining of the season Plano West to being one of the top ranked teams in the DFW area, only losing to a nationally ranked denton ryan by 3.
Over 2300 yards passing. Only sacked 6 times in over 270 passing attempts.
Awesome packet presence..Isn't scared to take hits and get hit.
Plano West averaged 38 ppg. Thats against teams like Allen, Plano East, Desoto, Denton Ryan, South Garland.
The reason this future Mustang hasn't had media hype or coverage is because plano west doesn't recieve media coverage. Its four years old and this is the first year its had a district champion, playoff contending team.

Eric johnson is the only hope smu has in resurecting its program

[KLBLAX00]

eric had over 2800 passing yards..and also 25 all purpose tds

[Stallion]

and there you go- a saviour has been born to lead us from the wilderness!

[DallasDiehard]

.... Eric johnson is the only hope smu has in resurecting its program

Woah! Easy there. Methinks I detect a family friend or relative.
Nonetheless, the reports that NMSU, Baylor, Tulane (which just beat TCU) and Utah have offered make him sound impressive. No, Stallion, perhaps he's not the savior. But his résumé seems to be getting more and more impressive, no?

[GoRedGoBlue]

Bottom line, has ANYONE seen him play?

How are his mechanics...etc.

[ponyboy]

Yes I would tend to conclude that a kid they offered 2 weeks ago was not their No. 1 choice

I would agree with that too, genius, except that your online recruiting services don't give you the time when they were offered. Look, let me say this. You may be right that he wasn't our first choice -- or you may not be. But don't go posting things as fact unless you know them to be. Conjecture and speculation should be stated as such, most especially for guys like you with a natural bent towards pessimism.

[Stallion]

its not speculation or conjecture-Its legitimate news reports relied upon by every major newspaper in this state based on telephone calls and usually quotes from the recruits themselves. The recruiting season last about 8 months or more. At least 4 QB recruits over that time period have indicated that SMU offered them before Eric Johnson was offered. All of that information has been thoroughly discussed on these boards. Sometimes news is wrong-sometimes recruits lie but its not conjecture or speculation.

[Recruiting Guru]

For what it's worth, here's my view of Eric Johnson. In the interest of objectivity, it should be noted up front that I have not seen him play in person. However, I watch miles of tape at this time of year, and I've seen quite a few Plano West games.

The last report I had on him listed him at 6'1" and about 205 pounds. The comparison that kept jumping into my mind was Josh Fields, the former Oklahoma State QB. Johnson is a little thicker/stronger than Fields was when he came out of Stillwater HS a few years back, but he also was a baseball player in high school, so his training and conditioning weren't geared solely toward football (a trend that continued during his time at OSU). In terms of size and strength, they're about the same, and they have similar characteristics. Neither is overly fast, but they both have OK quickness and seem to have an innate feel for pressure when they stand in the pocket. So while Johnson isn't going to do a Michael Vick impersonation, he does have enough pocket awareness and a quick enough first step to avoid many pass rushers. He also is a guy who looked to me at times like a linebacker playing QB - when he tucked the ball and took off, he seemed fearless in the face of contact. I don't think you want your QB out there looking for contact, of course, but he's not a guy who's going to slide or run out of bounds at the first sight of an opposing player. Another comparison with Fields is that Johnson seems to be a very smart player. Without having talked to him, of course, he seems very adept at reading defenses and making quick throws to "hot" receivers when the defense blitzes. He seems to understand what a defense does schematically, and makes adjustments well to compensate for what the defense shows. At times, Plano West runs a hurry-up offense that's similar to the no-huddle SMU runs, so adjusting to that shouldn't be a problem.

Mechanically, Johnson looks good. He stands tall and has a fairly high release point (could be higher, but it's not bad). He needs to get stronger - upper body and in his legs, but that will come with college weight training and with natural physical maturity. The strength of his passing appears (on the tapes I've seen) to be more in his accuracy than in his raw arm strength. He can make a lot of throws, but he's not a guy who's going to flip the ball 70 yards downfield off his back foot. When he stands up and really steps into his passes, he can get the ball to the receiver in a hurry, and his accuracy usually is pretty good. He needs to work more on throwing on the run.

He clearly needs time to grow and learn. But he's a good looking prospect who has gotten more interest in recent weeks after a fine senior season.

[PerunaPunch]

KLBLAX00,

Love your enthusiasm, but remember, the college game – even in the WAC or CUSA is a heck of a lot tougher and FASTER than high school ball. Every player on the field, and most of those on the sidelines too, were the best player in their high school, district, etc. I'm as excited to see Eric Johnson on the field as anyone else, but I doubt any one player could single-handedly send SMU to the promised land.

And don't make the mistake of getting too caught up in stats. Just off the top of my head I can think of one former Mustang gunslinger whose 4,700 yds and 49 TDs as a senior make Johnson look like something of a chump. But he never did much on the field and eventually ran off to play in a rock band.

Again, we're all excited about this commitment, but let's see him on the field before we anoint him as the program's savior.

[DallasDiehard]

For what it's worth, here's my view of Eric Johnson. In the interest of objectivity, it should be noted up front that I have not seen him play in person. However, I watch miles of tape at this time of year, and I've seen quite a few Plano West games.

The last report I had on him listed him at 6'1" and about 205 pounds. The comparison that kept jumping into my mind was Josh Fields, the former Oklahoma State QB. Johnson is a little thicker/stronger than Fields was when he came out of Stillwater HS a few years back, but he also was a baseball player in high school, so his training and conditioning weren't geared solely toward football (a trend that continued during his time at OSU). In terms of size and strength, they're about the same, and they have similar characteristics. Neither is overly fast, but they both have OK quickness and seem to have an innate feel for pressure when they stand in the pocket. So while Johnson isn't going to do a Michael Vick impersonation, he does have enough pocket awareness and a quick enough first step to avoid many pass rushers. He also is a guy who looked to me at times like a linebacker playing QB - when he tucked the ball and took off, he seemed fearless in the face of contact. I don't think you want your QB out there looking for contact, of course, but he's not a guy who's going to slide or run out of bounds at the first sight of an opposing player. Another comparison with Fields is that Johnson seems to be a very smart player. Without having talked to him, of course, he seems very adept at reading defenses and making quick throws to "hot" receivers when the defense blitzes. He seems to understand what a defense does schematically, and makes adjustments well to compensate for what the defense shows. At times, Plano West runs a hurry-up offense that's similar to the no-huddle SMU runs, so adjusting to that shouldn't be a problem.

Mechanically, Johnson looks good. He stands tall and has a fairly high release point (could be higher, but it's not bad). He needs to get stronger - upper body and in his legs, but that will come with college weight training and with natural physical maturity. The strength of his passing appears (on the tapes I've seen) to be more in his accuracy than in his raw arm strength. He can make a lot of throws, but he's not a guy who's going to flip the ball 70 yards downfield off his back foot. When he stands up and really steps into his passes, he can get the ball to the receiver in a hurry, and his accuracy usually is pretty good. He needs to work more on throwing on the run.

He clearly needs time to grow and learn. But he's a good looking prospect who has gotten more interest in recent weeks after a fine senior season.

Wow - great stuff, Guru. Thanks for the report!

[Stampede]

Thanks, for the report , Guru. You and I see the same attributes and have virtually the same evaluation. (see my earlier post)

Maybe I should work for you.

[KLBLAX00]

I have in fact seen eric play live and up close. Several times. Im not saying hes a heisman canidate or anything. But this is the type of tough, gun slinger that smu needs to compete at a higher level.

[ALEX LIFESON]

Is he better than what we have though?

[SWC2010]

Instead of all the 'arm-chair' QB critiqueS, how about a...

WELCOME TO SMU, ERIC!!!