Clemson Football: Tayquon Johnson is a dominant DT prospect

Clemson football freshman defensive tackle Tayquon Johnson was a dominant interior lineman in high school. Can he bring that to the Tigers?

Tayquon Johnson is a big 6-foot-3, 297 pound defensive tackle from Williamsport, Maryland.

Johnson joined a 2019 Clemson football recruiting class that included 29 total signees. Of the 29 signees, there were 17 mid-year enrollees.

Though Johnson was not one of those mid-year enrollees, he still will have an opportunity to make an impact when he steps on campus later this summer.

Let’s continue our series looking at each of the 2019 Clemson football freshmen with a breakdown of Defensive Tackle Tayquon Johnson.

Talent Analysis:

For a guy that will play upwards of 300 pounds in his collegiate career, Johnson has plenty of athleticism as well.

His high school used him in a jumbo package on offense because of that athleticism. He’s a guy that most likely projects at the 3-technique, though he could move inside if he put on a little more weight.

On film, you can see Johnson absolutely dominate his competition. Opposing offensive linemen aren’t able to block him and he’s an absolute monster. Much of that has to do with the low competition level up in Maryland, but it also has to do with the fact that he’s just a talented defensive lineman.

Like many high school athletes that dominate at that level, Johnson will have to improve his leverage at the next level. His explosion out of the stance is going to be a great asset for the Tigers over the coming years.

Immediate Impact?

The starters are pretty much penciled in at defensive tackle this season with Nyles Pinckney and Jordan Williams. However, both of those guys are coming off of injuries that forced them to miss spring camp.

Behind them is talented true-freshman Tyler Davis, veteran Xavier Kelly, redshirt freshman Darnell Jefferies and a few other freshmen that enrolled in the mid-year. Johnson may be more ready to play the position this year than those other freshmen, which could lead to him stepping in and moving up the depth chart rather quickly.

I don’t expect him to be a factor in the two-deep, though, and he’ll most likely teeter-totter between redshirting and playing this year. Right now, I still would predict a redshirt for this season because of the need to develop his technique.