Ricky Johnson, the 5-foot-11, 185-pound three-star athlete (wide receiver, running back and quarterback) from Carencro High School in Lafayette, La., finished his junior season with 1,050 yards rushing, 300 yards receiving and 200 yards passing. He scored a total of 18 touchdowns.
"I'm fast and quick," Johnson said. "Once I get in the open field it's hard for people to catch me."
Johnson is ranked as the No. 74 wide receiver in the country by Scout.com and he says that receiver is his favorite position. "I like playing wide receiver the most," Johnson said. "I love having the ball and I really like getting reverses and going deep. Receiver is the most fun."
He says he can bench press 265-pounds, squat 390 and has a 35-inch vertical jump.
"I'd like to add some more weight and be able to run through tackles easier," he said. "Bulking up would make me harder to bring down. I also want to improve my route running."
Johnson has eight scholarship offers but has already narrowed it down to three choices, although his favorite, LSU, hasn't offered yet.
"I like that LSU is right in my backyard (30 minutes away) and they are a real good team," Johnson said. "They were supposed to offer me, but said they want to see me some more at wide receiver. I'm going to their camp next week (July 19-23) and if I do well I think they'll offer."
The Tigers are also the team Johnson grew up watching and he admits that an offer from LSU would be difficult to turn down. "They just won the national championship," he said. "It would be really hard to pass up if they offer. But even if they did offer, I still wouldn't commit right away. I'd probably wait a little bit."
Despite his affinity for LSU, he doesn't believe that the Tigers are going to win it all again next year. "I'm really interested to see how they do this season," Johnson said. "But I don't think they'll repeat. It'll be very hard. They lost their quarterback and they need more cornerbacks."
His pick to win the national championship in 2009…"Georgia," he said. "I think Georgia is going to win it all. They were good last year and they should be great next year. Florida will probably do well, but I think it'll be Georgia at the end."
Johnson now favors the Tigers solidly over Arkansas and Georgia Tech. He also has offers from Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Nebraska. Southern Mississippi, Tulane and Tulsa.
The Tigers are recruiting him for receiver as is Arkansas. Georgia Tech, however, is recruiting Johnson for quarterback. "They are gonna be running the option there and that's what we run at my high school," he said. "I'm pretty used to it and it would be fun to play quarterback."
Another thing the Yellow Jackets have going for them is that they are also recruiting Johnson for basketball. "I'd really like to try and do both sports and they already said that I'd be able to play basketball too," he said.
Johnson plays point guard and averages 18 points, six rebounds and six assists per game. His only offer for the hardwood is from Tulane. "If I only play one sport it'll be football," he admitted. "I think I'm better at football and there's more opportunities in football."
Thus far LSU is the only school that Johnson has actually visited, but he plans on checking out both Georgia Tech and Arkansas at the end of July.
"I like the offense at Arkansas," Johnson said. "I like the Wildcat package they run and they told me that they'd definitely get me the ball a lot. They said they would move me around and that I'd get to play multiple positions."
Johnson says he'd like to make a commitment before the start of his season. "I want to get it out of the way," he said. "But even if other schools come along, I'll still take a look at them. I'd like to take some official visits too. I can always change my mind, but I just really want to commit before the season."
He says he'd like to major in either engineering or go pre-law. Johnson reports a 3.4 core GPA and a 17 ACT, which he is retaking.