AJ Johnson will return to UT next season.*

[Black Diamond Vol]

 

[Inspector Vol]

 He would have been crazy to leave. Not an NFL lb IMO anyway. We could use him and he can get that much closer to, if not finish his degree......he is going to need it after college.

[Clockwork Orange]

Excellent. He may lack footspeed and will not be in the pantheon of great UT linebackers, but we will most certainly be better off with him back.

AJ, Curt, and a newcomer. That's pretty exciting. It also gives guys like Kevin Mouhon and Jakob Johnson a year to get PT and develop without us having to lean on them from day 1.

[Volznut]

I think he should have gone. I don't see him going higher than he would have this year, and he risks injury. Aaron Murray comes to mind.

That being said, glad he is back, he gives us an experienced MLB who was playing well by end of season.

[PirateVOL]

Excellent. He may lack footspeed and will not be in the pantheon of great UT linebackers, but we will most certainly be better off with him back.

AJ, Curt, and a newcomer. That's pretty exciting. It also gives guys like Kevin Mouhon and Jakob Johnson a year to get PT and develop without us having to lean on them from day 1.

He will never be fast but the AJ we saw at the end of the season was much improved.  He was able to get sideline to sideline far, far better than earlier in the season and, on occasion, actually cover a receiver.  His zone pass defense skills improved greatly.  If he builds on the late season surge then he will be a very good LB for us at Mike and as a leader of the defense.

[HerbTarlekVol]

He will never be fast but the AJ we saw at the end of the season was much improved.  He was able to get sideline to sideline far, far better than earlier in the season and, on occasion, actually cover a receiver.  His zone pass defense skills improved greatly.  If he builds on the late season surge then he will be a very good LB for us at Mike and as a leader of the defense.

Yep, we'll be better on defense with him than without him, so I am good with his staying. 

That said, I don't see him improving his NFL stock much, so maybe he is taking a huge risk.  He could be drafted this year, make somebody's team, and earn a year's rookie pay, which still isn't a bad thing right now. 

Not sure I understand this one. 

[BanditVol]

Yep, we'll be better on defense with him than without him, so I am good with his staying. 

That said, I don't see him improving his NFL stock much, so maybe he is taking a huge risk.  He could be drafted this year, make somebody's team, and earn a year's rookie pay, which still isn't a bad thing right now. 

Not sure I understand this one. 

I've been following the draft projections this year.  FWIW, he dropped a round or two as the season wore on.  Might be he thinks he can climb back.  Given that he was originally projected higher, I don't see why not.  But I am just speculating.

[Screaming Eagle Dad]

A.J. could/can be an NFL Linebacker. His problem is not being around the ball becuase he almost always is. He needs to make more takles at or behind the LOS and he needs to eliminate the arm slinging tackles. He has got to learn to punish a ball carrier with solid form tackling. If he can correct those tow he has a good shot at the NFL  if not he'll be an NFLer (Not For Longer)