Hunter Johnson, once a five-star quarterback recruit, has become the hottest quarterback on the market after transferring from Clemson football.
At one point, Hunter Johnson was thought to be the replacement for Deshaun Watson at Clemson. The Tigers landed the five-star quarterback from the 2017 recruiting class out of Brownsburg, Ind., and believed he could be the next great dual-threat for the program.
Johnson found himself second on the depth chart after losing the quarterback battle in 2017 to Kelly Bryant. He then slid one spit further as freshman sensation Trevor Lawrence set the nation on fire with his strong spring showing.
The five-star quarterback was now the No. 3 option at quarterback heading into his second season with the Tigers, and that just wasn’t going to cut it.
On Monday, the sophomore quarterback announced his intention to transfer from the program, leaving the battle for starting quarterback up to Bryant and Lawrence.
5⭐️QB Hunter Johnson announces he will transfer from Clemson
— Pick Six Previews (@PickSixPreviews) May 21, 2018
This makes it 5/8 of the 2015-2017 5⭐️ QB's that have already transferred
Johnson will be highly sought-after from this point forward as programs are heading into fall camp with a good idea of what their biggest needs are. Many programs are thin at the quarterback position, or will be after 2018, so expect Johnson to be pulled in multiple directions.
There’s already chatter that he’s willing to go back home and play for Jeff Brohm and Purdue, but Northwestern has also come up. Programs like Arkansas and Florida could use some help at the position, but the Indiana-native could be headed to the Big Ten.
Next: Way-too-early 2019 NFL Mock Draft
The race for Johnson is just heating up and he will be forced to sit out the 2018 season. Don’t be surprised to see him head back home, but at the same time, he will get a lot of attention from just about everyone. This kid has game-changing talent.