Shortly after the heartbreaking loss to Georgia in the College Football Playoff national semi-final, JK Johnson put his name in the transfer portal. It didn’t take long for Johnson to find a new home as he’ll be traveling south to the Bayou to play for Brian Kelly and LSU. Johnson announced the news with an updated Twitter profile with him in a purple LSU jersey and “Ohio State -> LSU” in the bio.
Johnson started five games for the Buckeyes in 2022 and played in every other regular season game after only seeing action in just two games his freshman season. However, he didn’t see any time in the Chick-fil-a Peach Bowl loss to Georgia. With the possible departure of Cameron Brown in the secondary, it seems Johnson would’ve been in line for a significant increase in snaps.
Johnson was the No. 3 cornerback prospect and No. 50 overall recruit in the 2021 class.
@LSUfootball @SteepDiesel @WingoMekhi @iRecruitDaBoot pic.twitter.com/AIUMMHOWMo
— JK Johnson (@darealxjk) January 8, 2023
This marks the second year in a row that an Ohio State cornerback has left Columbus for Baton Rouge. Last year, former starter Sevyn Banks joined the Tigers as a grad transfer where he was earning playing time before a neck injury in early October and had to be carted off the field on a stretcher.
Losing Johnson definitely hurts a defense that is badly in need of depth in the secondary. However, Ohio State has some strong freshmen coming in and will probably still look for some more help in the transfer portal.
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