Brandon Johnson Talks Role in Oregon Defense

It’s no secret that Oregon had one of the most impressive transfer portal hauls in college football this offseason. Dan Lanning and the staff brought in a number of key names on defense and former Duke defensive back Brandon Johnson is one who projects to play a big role following the departure of Evan Williams, who was drafted by the Green Bay Packers.

Johnson met with the media for the first time in fall camp on Monday and below you’ll find a transcription of that press conference, along with some analysis.

Question: Sounded like you had one of the takeaways on Saturday. Walk us through it.

Johnson: “I believe it was third down. Man coverage, was covering my guy doing what we do every day in practice, converting drills over to the game. Undercut the route, ball came to me, simple.”

Question: What has been your impressions of now that you’ve had a few weeks of the team practices in this defense—of just overall performance, of joining this unit and being a part of this group right now after a couple weeks?

Johnson: “Definitely talented, deep. That’s the main impression is we’re talented and we got a lot of it.”

Question: Especially in the secondary it seems like there’s probably great competition just with all the talent here. What’s that been like and how do you feel like you’ve stacked up?

Johnson: “That’s been great. I enjoy the competition. That makes us all better. So the competition is great.“

Question: How do you feel like the competition has been between the offense and the defense? How have you guys kind of helped each other get better throughout fall camp?

Johnson: “I think we have the best competition in the nation for sure. Makes us a better team overall, going against those guys and them going against us. We measure up pretty well. Iron sharpens iron.”

Question: Where are you primarily working right now? What’s your role?

Johnson: “I’m just kind of working in the nickel spot at the moment.”

Question: How do you feel like two-spot drills have helped development?

Johnson: “With the amount of depth that we have we’re able to go two spot. And I think it’s great. We’re always able to get work in. And it’s definitely—you can see it carry over. A lot of guys are getting a lot of reps.”

Question: Who else is competing with you at nickel? What are some of the names there?

Johnson: “Some slot guys that we have other than myself Nikko Reed, Daylen Austin, those are some of the guys.”

Question: What are some other things that make this, your first fall camp under Coach Lanning a little bit different than other fall camps in the past?

Johnson: “High intensity. I might have had some high-intensity camps in the past but Lanning, we work every single day. Off days are work days as well.”

Question: Tosh talked a little bit in the spring even before you got here, they’re gonna do a little bit more dime this year just because of the depth they have including with you on the way at that point. How much have you guys had a chance to get into dime and install that a little bit here in camp?

Johnson: “We’ve gotten a lot of reps getting into the dime package. I think we’ll be ready whenever the season comes around.”

Torres’ Take

Johnson was a player that flew a bit under the radar during his time in the transfer portal but you can bet this staff is excited to have him on their team. Evan Williams was solid for the Ducks a year ago but with the way Johnson flies around the field, is a reliable tackler and perhaps most importantly can cover, he should help take Chris Hampton’s secondary up a notch.

Relationships are often key in recruiting and Hampton’s prior connection with Johnson and his experience should help ease the transition to pretty complicated defense. Based on this press conference he seems to be a man of few words but maybe that’s just what you want as a coach: a player who shows up, puts his head down and works.