Miami football: 5 most underrated players in Miami Hurricanes history

3. Mami football underrated players: Jaquan Johnson

Jaquan Johnson was on that last really good Miami team of 2017. That was the team that used the turnover chain to guide them to a 10-win season, their only one in the ACC. The player that led the team in turnovers? That of course is Jaquan Johnson.

Miami has a long list of great safeties, best among them is the late Sean Taylor and Hall of Famer Ed Reed. Don’t discount the likes of Brandon Meriweather, Bennie Blades, and Kenny Phillips. Still, Johnson is right up there with any of them. Was he on a team that eventually won a National Championship? No, but that’s nowhere near his fault.

In a top-15 matchup against Virginia Tech, Johnson had an interception and a forced fumble in the red zone. Whenever the Hokies looked like they were going to get back in the game, Johnson stopped them single-handedly. Against No. 3 Notre Dame, Johnson had an interception in the first quarter that led to Miami taking a two-touchdown lead. They never looked back in a 41-3 smackdown.

In their last win of the season, Miami was down by seven to Virginia. Johnson ended up getting a pick-six in the third quarter, and it helped swing momentum into the Hurricanes favor en route to a 44-28 victory. In Miami’s first loss of the season against Pittsburgh in 2017, he had a fumble forced, a fumble recovered, and six tackles. In their Orange Bowl loss to Wisconsin, he led the team with 11 total tackles and constantly had to clean up the mess left behind when Jonathan Taylor was running the ball.

That’s just one season, where Johnson was completely dominant. In 2018, he wasn’t able to replicate the turnover prowess as Miami had a down season overall. Still, he was able to be a force in the run defense. Johnson should go down as one of the most fun defensive players to watch in Hurricanes’ history. Also, we can’t forget he touched the ball twice on Miami’s eight-lateral last-second play to beat Duke in 2015.