Highly recruited out of Central, Johnson had offers from Oklahoma, Nebraska, Florida, Arizona State and Fresno State among others. He chose Utah and the Utes were 11-2 last season making it to the PAC-12 Championship. He contributed with 34 solo tackles and two interceptions despite playing with a torn labrum.
Per ESPN, the 6'0 cornerback set the Fresno youth league record with 50 touchdowns in a single season.
He was described as a "first round talent" by ESPN's post-draft analysis.