Cornerback RJ Johnson is playing perhaps the best football of his life, and the timing could not be better for him or for the Colorado Buffaloes. He has four pass breakups in the two games since stepping back into the starting lineup, and he looks like a player who knows how fast a season can be taken away.

Johnson learned that lesson the hard way. He started the first three games of 2025 and picked off his first career pass against Delaware, then an injury kept him out of eight games. A corner who was finally getting his chance had to watch most of the year from the sideline.

RJ Johnson took the long road to Boulder

Nothing about his path has been a product of luck. Johnson arrived from Arkansas, where he played only one game and redshirted in 2023, and his first season in Boulder came mostly on special teams. He led Colorado with 212 special teams snaps in 2024 while waiting for a real look on defense.

Players who earn their snaps on kickoff and punt units tend to carry a certain edge, and Johnson’s play lately has that feel. He is fighting for the ball every time it comes his way, which is what four breakups in two games usually look like.

RJ Johnson is making quarterbacks pay

The results around him back it up. Texas Tech threw for 134 yards in Boulder, its lowest passing total of the season, after Colorado’s first four opponents averaged 236 passing yards against the Buffaloes, according to Colorado Athletics.

Utah’s passing game had its moments a week later, but the Utes still completed fewer than 60 percent of their throws, and Johnson chipped in five tackles. For a defense that wants to attack up front, a cornerback who can hold his own on an island buys the pass rush an extra second, and that second is often the difference between a completion and a sack.

RJ Johnson wanted to lead before he could play

Johnson told everyone what he planned to bring this season during spring practice, when he was asked about his offseason focus. 

“My leadership,” Johnson said. “This is my third year here ... just being more vocal and stepping up into that role.”

He also made it clear what the bigger goal was. 

“Everybody’s doing a great job of gelling together and becoming one team,” Johnson said that spring. “The ultimate goal is winning a championship in the fall.”

RJ Johnson has more riding on this than most

Johnson is eligible for the NFL Draft after this season, and a 6-2 corner with ball skills will always get he attention. The one question scouts could have asked last winter was durability, and every healthy Saturday answers part of it.

The championship talk from the spring feels a long way off for Colorado this year. Johnson’s own stock is a different story, and the corner from McDonough, Georgia, is giving NFL scouts a much healthier picture than the one they had a year ago.