Highly Recruited RB LJ Johnson Jr. Setttles in at Cal

If running back LJ Johnson Jr. had committed to Cal out of high school four years ago instead of coming to Berkeley through the transfer this year, there would have been a lot publicity about his commitment.

The 5-foot-10, 215-pound Johnson was one of the top high school running backs in the country coming out of Cy-Fair High School in Cypress, Texas. He was ranked as the 45th-best overall prospect in the country and the No. 4 running back in the class of 2021 by 247Sports composite. He had offers from Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Notre Dame, Michigan, Miami, LSU, Oklahoma and Mississippi, among others before choosing Texas A&M.

If he had chosen Cal at that point, he would have been the second-highest-rated running back ever to come to Cal, behind only Marshawn Lynch back in 2004.

It’s still a big deal, as Johnson is one of three transfer running backs – along with Brandon High and Kendrick Raphael -- trying to be among the two running backs expected to get significant playing time this season.  Offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin said this week that two running backs will typically share meaningful playing time in each game this season, with a third running back perhaps getting some carries on occasion. But, like many teams, it appears Cal will primarily rotate two running backs.

Johnson is very capable of being one of the two featured backs at Cal now that he has moved out of Texas for the first time after two previous college stops.

He played in four games in his first season at Texas A&M and six games in his second, getting 31 carries for 115 yards in the two seasons combined.

He transferred to SMU prior to the 2023 season and started four games for the Mustangs in 2023 and three in 2024, when his playing time declined. He had three 100-yard rushing games in 2023, but none last season when he ran for 303 yards and averaged 4.1 yards per carry as the Mustangs’ No. 2 running back behind Brashard Smith, who rushed for 1,332 yards and was a first-team all-ACC pick in 2024.

He entered the transfer portal again and it appeared he would stay in Texas when he committed to Rice on April 24 of this year, but nine days later he changed his mind and committed to Cal. He saw a chance for playing time at Call, with the Bears’ top four running backs from 2024, including Jaydn Ott and Jaivian Thomas, entering the transfer portal.

“Just for my last year I thought [Cal] would be the best opportunity for myself, seeing an opportunity in the room,” he said. “I’m going to be in grad school, so the education here, the people here and the culture. I have a great relationship with [Cal running backs] Coach [Julian] Griffin. So I just felt it was the best time to get out of Texas and take on this opportunity.”