During the transfer portal season, one of the players who Stanford football landed was Idaho linebacker Zach Johnson, who was a redshirt freshman last season for the Vandals. Rivals has Johnson as a 3-star transfer with a 5.5 Rivals rating. That’s on the lower end of 3-star ratings.

In 14 games played as a redshirt freshman last season, Johnson had 83 total tackles (36 solo), two quarterback hits, one interception, one pass breakup, and one forced fumble. He helped guide the Vandals to a 10-4 overall record and 6-2 record in the Big Sky. The Vandals made the FCS playoffs, losing to No. 1 seeded Montana State in the quarterfinals. Johnson was very instrumental in the success that the Vandals had.

Listed at 6’3”, 225 pounds, Johnson projects to play at the inside linebacker spot. With Tristan Sinclair and Gaethan Bernadel both graduating, Johnson will be squarely in the mix to be a starting inside linebacker and should see a decent amount of snaps next season. Even though he is coming up from the FCS ranks, the amount of tackles he accumulated speaks for itself. He’s clearly an aggressive player who is very used to being in the middle of the action on defense.

Even though he doesn’t have an impressive rating, Zach Johnson appears to be a nice pickup for the Cardinal. He’s got plenty of game experience and three years of eligibility left, giving him a chance to be a key part of their defense for the coming seasons. He practiced with the team during spring ball, which should really help him become an instant contributor to the defense. It’ll be fun to see how he develops and what kind of impact he makes on The Farm.

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