Cats Illustrated's Roster Rundown of the Kentucky football team in advance of the 2020 season continues with someone who was not recruited as a scholarship student-athlete but worked to put himself in that position.
Zach Johnson, No. 28, is who we're spotlighting today.
Background: Johnson was recruited as a walk-on by Kentucky. Johnson attended Colerain High School in Ohio and had opportunities to play football at Army, Navy, and Georgetown. Johnson was a native of Cincinnati and grew up a fan of the Wildcats.
Johnson was put on scholarship before the 2018 season, a reward for his hard work and contributions to Kentucky's special teams unit, along with two other walk-ons. Video of Mark Stoops informing the team of the news became popular on the internet.
Johnson is a prime special teams contributor for Kentucky, with evidence being a number of big tackles and also a 58-yard return against UGA last year.
2020 Outlook: Johnson has carved out a clear niche for himself. In recent years Kentucky's special teams unit has become much more of a strength. Some of that was Austin MacGinnis. A lot of it has been Max Duffy. But a good deal of it also has to do with coverage standouts who get down the field on kickoff and punt units and make big tackles to prevent returns, which are often plays that create momentum and tip games.
Johnson is frequently the first man down the field to level big hits in coverage and that's what he will be called on for again. Kentucky has had someone doing that very well since at least Kash Daniel's freshman season and with Johnson the tradition will live on for at least one more year. It's as much a certainty as just about anything as we look ahead to UK's next season, and if you underestimate the impact then let the coaching staff's decision to roster Johnson inform your judgment.
Johnson is also on Kentucky's kick return unit. Because of where the ball is kicked from that isn't as much a part of the game as it used to be several years ago but he still averaged more than 27 yards per return on six opportunities in 2018. That's also something he will continue to do.
