Anthony Johnson’s shift from cornerback to safety proving to be a ‘win-win’ at Iowa State

AMES — Anthony Johnson spent his first four seasons at Iowa State establishing himself as the team’s best all-around cornerback.

So why shift to safety this spring? Simple.

Cyclones head coach Matt Campbell pitched the move as a “win-win” gambit — and that’s proven to be a prescient observation.

“He is a physical football player,” said Campbell, whose team opens the season at 1 p.m. Saturday against Southeast Missouri State at Jack Trice Stadium. “(He has) the ability to tackle in space and I always thought that was one of (his) greatest strengths.”

Johnson’s an exemplar of proper tackling technique.

That, again, is one of the main reasons for the spring change, but the emergence of quality depth at cornerback also prompted Johnson to switch to free safety.

Campbell thought he’d have that in T.J. Tampa, Myles Purchase, Tayvonn Kyle and former Bettendorf star Darien Porter, but he couldn’t be sure until Week 1 hit.

He is now. All four of those players are on the two-deep — and the Cyclones would be comfortable with any of them starting.

“We felt like, man, maybe this is the right move to give some veteran presence at safety, but also do what’s best for him,” Campbell said. “Now you talk schematically, (he’s) obviously a guy that has played corner (and) certainly has good cover ability. Then you equate that with a guy that’s a really good tackler — I think it just gives you more confidence to maybe be a little bit more multiple in the back end (than) maybe what we’ve been in the past.”

Johnson has essentially become the quarterback of the secondary. He can help out with coverage as needed, while serving as ISU’s sure-tackling last line of defense. He also considers the four cornerbacks who will share snaps Saturday and beyond as elite talents.

“Man, you’ve got some great athletes out there,” Johnson said. “Any guy can get in there and get the job done.”

“We could have a really, really special group,” cornerbacks coach Matt Caponi said.

Time will tell, but Saturday’s game against the Redhawks should serve as a portent for what’s to come.

Campbell said just like in baseball, it’s imperative to be strong up the middle. The Cyclones have that potential with Isaiah Lee on the defensive line, former Cedar Rapids Washington standout O’Rien Vance at Mike linebacker and Johnson at free safety.

If they remain solid, the defense could improve despite losing several top contributors to graduation or the transfer portal.

“I think at times last year we were just average on defense and that’s not the standard here,” defensive coordinator Jon Heacock said. “That’s not what we believe in. We have to play every single game and play to our best, so I’m the bad guy that’s always trying to strive for perfection, to try to get everything perfect and knowing that’s probably not the case, but something short of that’s going to be OK. It’s going to be enough.”

Johnson’s not perfect, of course, but the shift to safety has proved to be the “win-win” proposition Campbell predicted. He weighed 160 pounds as an incoming freshman. Now he’s 6-foot, 207, and primed to enhance ISU’s hopes for a sixth-straight winning season as well as his own professional prospects down the road.

“Everybody wants to start, everybody wants to be making those plays,” Johnson said. “And when you’ve got that consistently, the sky’s the limit.”

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