Ole Miss DE Cedric Johnson is hard-wired for success in 2023

Ole Miss Defensive End Cedric Johnson was hard-wired for success early on.

He, in layman’s terms, has it all. 6-3 265 pounds, runs well, strong, Honor Roll student and possessing leadership qualities that are in short supply and high demand in this world of “mercenary” college football where players come and go like a city subway.

It was all set up – stardom, that is.

Playing opposite of DE Sam Williams when he was a sophomore, Cedric quietly racked up 6.5 quarterback sacks, which was overshadowed by Williams’ school record of 12.5 QB sacks.

Cedric is almost a Williams clone in body size, etc., so naturally after Williams left, it was supposed to be Johnson’s time to thrive as a junior in 2022. The heir apparent to Big Sam, so to speak.

Unfortunately, two things derailed him from catapulting to stardom while his coaches were telling anyone who would listen that Ced was “the best defensive player on the team.”

One, he had his hand in the dirt on a three-man front, which just isn’t Cedric.

Two, he injured his shoulder and played one-armed for most of the year.

So in 2023, which starts Saturday against Mercer, redemption for Johnson continues on. A part of his redemption first showed up when he was named the Chucky Mullins Award winner for this season.

Another part was evident when he started taking a bigger leadership role, mostly by his actions. The first one in drills, the first one on the practice field, the vocal guy up front on the defense.

On winning the Mullins Award (Cedric will wear the #38 patch because he wears his #2 jersey to honor his brother), Cedric is humble, as usual.

“Some guys were telling me I’d be the winner of the Chucky Mullins Award. When I finally got it, I was honored and blessed to win it and grateful the coaches think I am the right person to represent Chucky,” Johnson said this week.

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Back to the business of football.

Now, Defensive Coordinator Pete Golding, for the most part, has brought in a four-man front and a lot of the time Cedric is in a stand-up defensive end situation which suits his pass rush talents perfectly.

“I’m loving it,” he said. “I have a lot more freedom. It gives me more room to grow as a player overall. It’s been a lot of fun to have four defensive linemen on the field now. We won’t be seeing many double teams now.

“The D-Line is going to have a lot of fun and I’m going to have a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to the season.”

Johnson sees a lot of buy-in on the defense and he is also confident of the depth across the board.

“We are all excited because when you have the kind of depth we do, you can just turn it loose and not worry about being tired because someone will come in for you and there will be no dropoff,” he added. “Our backups can play at the same level as the starters in most cases.

“The vibe in the defensive line room is great. We are all ready to go. I believe the chemistry is really good. We are all focused on one goal, to win every game. As a brotherhood, we are all closer than we have ever been in my opinion.”

The mesh of the players has been achieved on and off the football field.

“The guys who have been here have welcomed the new guys with open arms. We do a lot of things together,” he ended. “We hang out together, we go out to eat together. It’s made us closer quicker than you might think.”

If he stays healthy, and he is healthy now after rehabbing offseason shoulder surgery, there is nothing standing in between Cedric and big things on the football field.

He’s wired for it.