Michigan All-American Will Johnson Admits He Was Far From 100% Healthy Last Season

Will Johnson was named a First-Team All-American last season for Michigan football as the Wolverines won the national championship over Michael Penix Jr. and the Washington Huskies.

Johnson's performance was enough to earn him the top overall player rating in EA Sport's College Football 25 video game.

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On Thursday, Johnson admitted to The Michigan Insider that he was not fully healthy for much of last year's electric season.

"My body wasn't ready for the season," Johnson said .

"I got right for a little bit, but I didn't put all that work in through the off-season so I could sustain it throughout the season.

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Johnson made a brilliant, juggling interception on the first play of the second half against Penix Jr. and the Huskies with the Wolverines leading 17-10.

He said that the Wolverines have a "blue collar" mentality and there are "no excuses on the football field, but admitted he was not in the neighborhood of 100 percent during key games.

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"I would say I was probably going 70, 75 (percent) last year," Johnson said according to Alejandro Zúñiga of The Insider.

"I mean, I wasn't really able to run. If you really know my game, you'll be able to tell that's why I played the way I did last year, because I didn't really trust myself running and things like that, just because I wasn't really able to."

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Johnson's Wolverines take on Fresno State on August 31 at the Big House in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the first game of their 2024-2025 title defense.

Michigan football won the 1997 national title, but lost the first two games of their 1998  title defense season against Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana and against Donovan McNabb's Syracuse Orangemen in Ann Arbor the following week.

Johnson, new head coach Sherrone Moore and the Wolverines are hoping for better results this time around with Alex Orji, Jack Tuttle and others battling it out for the starting quarterback job heading toward the fall football season.

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