Jordon Johnson-Rubell commits to the Texas Longhorns
The Texas Longhorns’ momentum on the recruiting trail continued July 1 with the commitment of Jordon Johnson-Rubell to Steve Sarkisian’s program, the third commitment of the day for UT.
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The On3 Industry Ranking four-star safety committed to Texas over Ohio State, Michigan and TCU after making official visits to all four schools in June.
The 5-foot-11, 180-pounder concluded the official visit process at Texas June 23-25. Coming out of the visit, Johnson-Rubell and family offered all positives on the weekend in Austin. The Longhorns recruited the Fort Worth native now playing at IMG Academy with an all hands on deck approach by Steve Sarkisian, Blake Gideon, Terry Joseph, and the defensive staff.
Safeties coach Blake Gideon made multiple trips to Bradenton, Fla. since Johnson-Rubell transferred to IMG Academy from Brewer High in Fort Worth. That included two trips in the spring.
Texas continuously showed Johnson-Rubell he was a wanted and needed player in Austin throughout the process. That includes on the field, in the locker room as a culture fit, and as a representative of University of Texas football.
The Longhorns offered the instinctive safety May 6 of 2022, and at that time vaulted to the top of Johnson-Rubell’s list. Texas was joined by 34 others in offering the Texan. The list of offers included SEC members Alabama, Florida, Auburn, Arkansas, LSU, Ole Miss, Missouri and Oklahoma.
Johnson-Rubell is the No. 187 overall prospect, the No. 14 safety, and the No. 32 player in Florida according to the On3 Industry Ranking. On3 ranks Johnson-Rubell as the No. 51 safety and the No. 70 prospect in Florida.
How Johnson-Rubell fits at Texas
Jordon Johnson-Rubell is a really interesting defensive back prospect because his play style is as a savvy enforcer but he’s currently listed at 5-foot-10, 170 pounds. He reminds me a lot of Chris Brown, the former Longhorn safety who racked up tackles and flex celebrations in 2020 playing strong safety, or perhaps Anthony Cook or even Jalen Catalon.
His short area quickness and ability to process things quickly and make sure tackles probably translates best at boundary/strong safety. If he has the speed, he might be able to play to the field but his capacity for quick decision-making and sudden violence translates very cleanly to the boundary, he’ll just need to to gain weight. – Ian Boyd
IMG Academy head coach Billy Miller on JJ-R
In a spring visit to IMG Academy, Inside Texas spoke with IMG Academy head coach Billy Miller about his star safety. Miller and staff in Bradenton couldn’t be any higher on the 4-star as an all-around player.
“Great instincts. Good ball skills. The best thing about him is he will come down and play in the box, and he will fit the run. A lot of guys in high school, maybe with a bunch of stars, don’t want to come down and tackle. Jordon is the total package. You get ball skills, the coverage ability and he will come down fit in the run. He’s a really, really good player for us.”
