The BYU Cougars kick off the 2026 season in zero days (meaning today!) against Utah Tech. As we count down to kickoff, today we will profile one of the players who wears No. 0: redshirt senior cornerback Evan Johnson.
Evan Johnson's background before BYU
Despite being lightly recruited coming out of Stevenson High School in California in the class of 2022, Evan Johnson has a legitimate shot at becoming one of the best cornerbacks in BYU history.
He was originally a 3-star recruit with a lowly 81 rating from 247 Sports, meaning he was dangerously close to being a 2-star talent coming out of high school. The 6-foot-0, 185-pounder inherited some outstanding genetics as the son of former NFL wide receiver Ron Johnson.
Evan was a track star in high school in the 100 and 200 meters, and his combination of size, speed, and athleticism led BYU to offer him, viewing him as a long-term development project. Johnson's 247 Sports profile doesn't list any offers other than BYU's, and the Cougars' development process has more than paid dividends.
Johnson's past and present with BYU
Evan was brought along slowly in his first two seasons at BYU. Between his 2022 and 2023 campaigns, he appeared in six total games, recording two tackles and one pass defended. Again, he was brought to Provo as a long-term development project, and after two seasons, he was finding his role in the Cougars' secondary.
In 2024, he won a spot on the depth chart and was a rotational piece for the Cougars. Over 12 games, he recorded 16 tackles with two interceptions and three passes defended.
Then last year Evan Johnson came into his own and had a breakout campaign. In 2025, "Shmev", as he is affectionately known, locked down a full-time starting role and produced 47 tackles, one sack, five interceptions, and 13 passes defended. His fantastic work in the secondary earned him Honorable Mention All-Big 12 honors. His five interceptions tied for the most in the Big 12 last year.
Now entering his final season of college football, Johnson was named to the 2026 Preseason All-Big 12 Team along with five of his BYU teammates. If BYU's front seven can generate more pressure this year than they have in seasons past, Johnson could have a monster senior season.
He is already firmly on the NFL Draft radar. ESPN recently listed him as an "early Day 3" candidate for next year's draft, meaning he could potentially be taken in the fourth or fifth rounds.
This is significant because BYU isn't known for producing NFL-level cornerbacks. Chris Wilcox was a seventh-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, but he never appeared in a regular-season game. The next corner drafted from BYU goes all the way back to Brian Mitchell in 1991. Michael Davis is now potentially concluding what was a great nine-year NFL career in which he appeared in 133 games, but he went undrafted before carving out his professional role.
In his final season in Provo, look for Evan Johnson to have a monster year locking down the oppositions' best receivers.
And then he's off to the NFL.
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