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Michigan CB Will Johnson selected by Arizona Cardinals in second round of 2025 NFL Draft

clayton-sayfieby: Clayton Sayfie04/26/25CSayf23
Michigan Wolverines football cornerback Will Johnson had a pick-six against Fresno State. (Photo by Lon Horwedel / TheWolverine.com)
(Photo by Lon Horwedel / TheWolverine.com)

With the No. 47 pick in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft, the Arizona Cardinals selected Michigan Wolverines football cornerback Will Johnson.

He’s the fourth Wolverine to be chosen this year, joining defensive tackle Mason Graham (No. 5 to the Cleveland Browns), tight end Colston Loveland (No. 10 to the Chicago Bears) and defensive tackle Kenneth Grant (No. 13 to the Miami Dolphins).

The 6-foot-2, 194-pound Detroit native is a former five-star recruit who played three seasons at Michigan, leaving early for the draft following the 2024 campaign.

In his 32-game Michigan career, Johnson totaled 68 tackles, 4 stops for loss, 19 pass breakups and 9 interceptions. He’s the program’s career leader with 3 interceptions returned for touchdowns.

“This is an injury slide,” Joel Klatt said on the NFL Network broadcast. “He probably at a position like corner would’ve gone higher than that because it’s always a position of need. Great instincts. He’s tough on the edge. He’s long. He reminds me of Pat Surtain in that respect. He’s played since day one at Michigan, and again, he just had a hard time getting on the field. When I saw him play against the elite players like Marvin Harrison, he would win those battles on the outside.

“He’s a terrific player. He battled turf toe and then he’s got a knee condition that everybody was scared off from, and so there you go. Great value in the second.

Daniel Jeremiah responded: “Not only the ball skills. How about the length, which you can use at the line of scrimmage or when the ball’s up in the air. This is what he does best to me, is when he can play top down, play off, be able to see through the receiver to the quarterback. He can anticipate. This is a Cardinals team that doesn’t play a ton of man, 23rd in the league. He’s gonna be in a perfect scheme fit for his skillset.”

He’s the son of former Michigan defensive back Deon Johnson.

Johnson played in six games in 2024, before a toe injury held him out of the rest of the season. He totaled 14 tackles, including 1 for loss, with 1 quarterback hurry and 5 pass breakups. Johnson had two pick-sixes — both at crucial points in wins over Fresno State and Southern California.

“It sounds like it’s ‘just a toe,’ but I had tore some ligaments in my toe, so I couldn’t run, couldn’t plant, couldn’t do anything like that for a while, really, until mid-January,” Johnson said of what forced him to miss the end of the 2024 campaign, appearing on ‘Pro Football Talk.’

Injuries have held Johnson back at different points in his career, and even hindered his pre-draft process. Johnson didn’t work out at the NFL Combine in February and he was held out of the team’s pro day due to a hamstring injury. Johnson held a private workout for NFL teams April 14 at Glick Fieldhouse at U-M.

The Defensive MVP of the 2023 national championship game, Johnson appeared in 12 outings with 11 starts in helping Michigan finish 15-0 to win its 12th-ever title. Johnson registered 27 tackles, including 1 for loss, with 4 interceptions, including 1 returned for a touchdown.

He was named a first-team All-American by Sports Illustrated and second-team honoree by USA Today. He was a consensus first-team All-Big Ten choice.

Johnson had a big freshman season, with his impact increasing in the back half of the year. He appeared in all 14 games with five starts in 2022, helping the Maize and Blue finish 13-1 and win the Big Ten championship. He made 27 tackles with 2 for loss and 3 interceptions.

A Grosse Pointe (Mich.) South product, Johnson was a five-star recruit and the nation’s No. 16 overall player in the 2022 class, according to the On3 Industry Ranking.

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