Do-everything South Carolina commit shows full game in historic win
Jayden Johnson had a few different things pulling at his attention.
He was on a knee the night of Nov. 13, trying to listen to his head coach deliver the postgame speech. Queen’s “We are the Champions” rang out in the stadium, a nod to his Cedartown High School (Georgia) team claiming their first region title in 19 years. A young boy, a coach’s son who came up to about mid-thigh on the 6-foot-2 South Carolina commit, tapped him excitedly on the shoulder, reminding him what the Bulldogs had just pulled off.
Then the song faded, and a PA announcer said Johnson, a senior, had been voted “Mr. Bulldog.” He went over to pick up a rather large trophy and take pictures.
The do-everything Gamecocks commit had done a little of everything on the field that Friday night, and he seemed to be getting pulled into doing a little of everything off it. But he did all that with a warm and seemingly gregarious attitude, basking in an all-around nice night.
“My team came out and fought, so it was a good feeling,” Johnson said.
He’ll bring a versatile style to Columbia. He stands at 6-foot-2, but he plays maybe even a little taller, owing to his length. On the next level, he’ll be a safety or nickel, maybe a corner in a pinch.
In high school, there’s something interesting about what he’s asked to do. He’s the team’s deep safety, a last line of defense who can cover a lot of ground. It means he doesn’t put up monster tackle numbers, as his front seven are good and include four-star Georgia linebacker commit C.J. Washington, but he got in a lick or two Nov. 13 against Central.
His coach, Jamie Abrams, called that skill set invaluable.
“He played corner last couple years,” Abrams said. “We played him at safety. He came up tonight and had a really big hit. ... He’s been able to play a lot of positions, so I think that’ll help him down the road to learn the game.”
Johnson said he likes being back there because there’s a different type of pressure.
He’s used somewhat judiciously on offense, rotating as part of a Wing-T offense that seems to platoon sets of play-makers. But when he gets out there, he’s all over — a little wing back, a little quarterback and a little wide receiver.
“I can do it all,” Johnson said. “Whatever my team needs. I’m not just like a one-position player.”
He had 30 rushing yards of four carries and 189 receiving yards on five catches on this night, plus two touchdowns in the 34-7 win. He also made five tackles.
For the season, he has 347 rushing yards at 7.2 yards per carry, 336 receiving yards, eight total touchdowns, 23 tackles and three interceptions.
It’s not clear how the firing of Will Muschamp and coming coaching search will affect his commitment. He told Rivals the coaching change affects his commitment “some” but he’s still a future Gamecock for now. He’d said at the start of the season that he hoped this recruiting class could turn the program’s fortunes.
His high school coach has seen him grow across the past nine months. Committing to the Gamecocks didn’t go to his head. He came through a coaching change at Cedartown well, matured and likely has his best football ahead of him.
Abrams described him as laid back, much like his two younger brothers. Sometimes that’s another way to say he’s quiet, but he hardly seemed that way, cracking jokes such as saying he wasn’t a fan of opponents keeping the Bulldogs’ varsity guys out there. (He’d rather run away with a game and let the JV kids get some work.)
Johnson’s Cedartown program has produced some good college players: current Cleveland Brown and former Georgia star Nick Chubb, Clemson tailback Kobe Pryor, West Virginia tailback Tony Mathis and East Carolina Taji Hudson. He played with that final trio and remains close with them.
“We talk every day,” Johnson said.
Those players probably had nights like Johnson did Friday. Twenty-plus minutes after the game, he still hadn’t made it to the locker room.
Close family got photos with him as soon as he picked up his award, but friends and classmates kept coming up, kept pulling out phones, kept sharing smiles and jokes. Johnson seemed content with it, calling another person over to get another picture.
At a moment late in his career with history in hand, he looked like a man just soaking it in.
