South Carolina Football: Gamecock commit named All-American

South Carolina football commitment Fred “JayR” Johnson was named to the All-American Team and will play in the All-American Bowl (formerly known as the Army All-American Bowl) this upcoming winter. Johnson’s selection makes him the sixth All-American (so far) for the Gamecocks in the class of 2024.

The Norfolk, Virginia native will join fellow South Carolina football commitment Josiah Thompson at the game. Other Gamecocks commitments Dylan Stewart (5-star EDGE), Mason Love (5-star kicker), Kam Pringle (4-star offensive tackle), and Dante Reno (4-star quarterback) are slated to play in the Under Armour All-American Game.

The honor for Fred Johnson is further proof of how quickly he has risen up the recruiting rankings over the last six months or so. Previously an unranked wide receiver prospect, Johnson is now a 4-star linebacker with an almost unlimited ceiling due to his tremendous athletic testing numbers.

During a visit to South Carolina earlier this year, despite being just 17 years old and having never seen a college weight room, Johnson posted testing numbers around the average for players at the NFL Scouting Combine. He ran multiple 4.54 40-yard dash times and broad jumped 9’8″ on his visit while measuring 6’3″ and 225 pounds.

Moving from unranked receiver to All-American linebacker in half of a year is unprecedented, but seeing those athletic testing numbers helps explain how it’s possible.

The Gamecock commit demonstrates his elite athleticism by playing both ways for Maury High School. Johnson’s wide receiver film is pretty impressive in and of itself, but he could be a force on defense with his elite physical traits and toughness making him a tackling machine at linebacker.

Johnson is one of two linebacker commitments in the class of 2024 for the Gamecocks. Wendell Gregory (4-star linebacker from Georgia) is the other, but there has been some talk that he could move to an EDGE role. On3’s recruiting rankings even feature Gregory’s ratings among EDGE players now instead of linebackers. 3-star safety David Bucey was formerly rated as a linebacker, as well.