Oregon lands commitment from former Ole Miss safety Tysheem Johnson
Oregon has dipped back into the transfer portal to bolster its depth in the secondary.
On Wednesday, the Ducks landed a commitment from former Ole Miss safety Tysheem Johnson.
He becomes the 10th player Dan Lanning’s program has added via the portal this offseason, and the sixth defensive addition. With Johnson’s commitment, Oregon’s scholarship count now sits at 92.
Johnson will have two seasons of eligibility remaining.
In 13 games last season, including nine starts, Johnson recorded 78 tackles, 4.0 tackles for loss, and two pass deflections.
A former 4-star recruit, Johnson was the No. 233 overall prospect and the No. 16 safety in the class of 2021. The Philadelphia native received offers from the Ducks, Penn State, and countless others out of high school.
According to Pro Football Focus, Johnson played 653 defensive snaps in 2022, with the majority of them coming in the box (230). He also spent plenty of time at nickel (217 snaps) and free safety (141). PFF issued him a 72.4 overall grade on the season, which would have ranked sixth among Oregon defenders who played regularly last season.
Johnson is the second safety Oregon has added via the portal this offseason, along with former Fresno State standout Evan Willians. The Ducks have also added former Alabama cornerback Khyree Jackson in the secondary.
Oregon’s lone defensive back to enter the transfer portal this offseason was reserve safety Jonathan Flowe.
Transfer portal background information
The NCAA Transfer Portal, which covers every NCAA sport at the Division I, II and III levels, is a private database with names of student-athletes who wish to transfer. It is not accessible to the public.
The process of entering the portal is done through a school’s compliance office. Once a player provides written notification of an intent to transfer, the office enters the player’s name in the database and everything is off and running. The compliance office has 48 hours to comply with the player’s request and that request cannot be refused.
Once a player’s name shows up in the portal, other schools can contact the player. Players can change their minds at any point and withdraw from the portal. However, once a player enters the portal, the current scholarship no longer has to be honored. In other words, if a player enters the portal but decides to stay, the school is not obligated to provide a scholarship anymore.
The database is a normal database, sortable by a variety of topics, including (of course) sport and name. A player’s individual entry includes basic details such as contact info, whether the player was on scholarship and whether the player is transferring as a graduate student.
A player can ask that a “do not contact” tag be placed on the report. In those instances, the players don’t want to be contacted by schools unless they’ve initiated the communication.
