Stetson Bennett won his second consecutive national championship at Georgia.

Justin Fields completed a breakout NFL season that ended 64 yards shy of the single-season quarterback rushing record.

Taylor Heinecke emerged once again in 2022 as a legitimate NFL starting quarterback.

All three players are Georgia high school football legends, but they weren’t as prolific as RJ Johnson III. Only eight quarterbacks in that state’s history have more career passing yards than Johnson, who signed with the University of Toledo in December and will begin classes at UT on Monday. Among those ranked ahead of Johnson: Trevor Lawrence, Deshaun Watson, and Jake Fromm.

“I’m surprised he didn't get more Power Five offers,” said Todd Holcomb, co-founder and editor of Georgia High School Football Daily. “He's got the size, and he throws the ball well. He's in the top 10 all-time in passing yards in Georgia, and he didn't put up those numbers dinking and dunking to athletes. He can throw the ball downfield.”

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound quarterback was a three-star prospect with offers from UT, Central Florida, East Carolina, Liberty, Alabama-Birmingham, Georgia Southern, Middle Tennessee State, Florida Atlantic, and Eastern Kentucky.

His final decision came down to Toledo, East Carolina, Liberty, Georgia Southern, and UAB.

“Toledo was the school that recruited me the longest and exposed me to how much interest they had in me and what they saw in me,” said Johnson, who attended Westlake High School in Atlanta. “Being there just felt like home. Seeing the campus, the football facility, having the academic center in the football facility, I can use everything there to be an asset to Toledo.”

Johnson was a first team all-state selection as a senior and made the MaxPreps All-American team as a sophomore. He completed 66.2 percent of his passes for 9,973 career yards, with 78 touchdowns and 22 interceptions. Johnson would not be defined as a dual-threat quarterback — he had 697 rushing yards in high school — but it doesn’t mean he’s immobile or incapable of moving the pocket and eluding defenders.

His best season came as a sophomore when he completed more than 70 percent of his passes for 3,475 yards, 28 touchdowns, and just four interceptions. It was impressive enough that Toledo became his first offer that same season.

Quarterbacks coach Robert Weiner was the main recruiter, with head coach Jason Candle assisting. Recruiting coordinator Ricky Ciccone and director of player development Terry Swanson were heavily involved in building the relationship.

“Coach Weiner and I don’t have a lot in common other than football,” Johnson said. “But we learned a lot about each other. He came over and had gumbo. He came to the school, and we were able to talk for hours on the phone.”

On the subject of gumbo, Weiner said: “It’s his father Reggie’s specialty. That was a highlight of the trip. It was really good, there’s no doubt about it.”

And he agreed with Johnson’s assessment of their connection. The middle-aged white coach and young Black athlete don’t share many similarities outside of football, but that didn’t prevent the pair from bonding. They clicked early on because they were genuine and authentic with each other, according to Weiner.

“Recruiting can sometimes be a rollercoaster,” he said. “I tried to not only be the Toledo Rocket quarterbacks coach and recruiter, I tried to also be someone who could be a sounding board for all that he was going through. This isn’t a starting point for us. It’s a continuation of what we’ve built for several years.”

On his first visit to Toledo, which occurred during the summer, Johnson figured out that it wasn’t always cold in Ohio. If Toledo was closer to Georgia, his recruitment would have been over sooner. But once the distance hurdle was conquered, there was little left to the decision-making process. (Johnson committed to UT during the summer of 2022.)

Another positive force for Johnson was Toledo quarterback-turned-cornerback Avery Smith. The fellow Georgia native had several conversations with Johnson and gave him an understanding of how Toledo operates its football program.

“It helped a lot,” Johnson said. “You always want to know the players’ point of view. Being able to gather that from him, it assured me what Toledo can bring to my life and how it can help me. It’s where I feel like I should be.”

Come Monday, it’ll be his home for the foreseeable future. He had a plan entering high school that would allow him to enroll early for college. With Dequan Finn, Tucker Gleason, and another Georgia-bred quarterback John Alan Richter, ahead of him on the depth chart, Johnson’s purpose is to be a team-first player, soak up knowledge from teammates and coaches, and make a positive impact.

“He’s definitely experienced in terms of the number of reps he took in high school and to do it in a really competitive environment against really good teams for a long time,” Weiner said. “Every rep you take in those circumstances for a really smart kid like RJ, it’s experience that’s tucked away in your back pocket.

“He’s a mature young man. Sometimes you get freshmen in and there’s a little crossing the bridge from high school immaturity to being responsible for yourself. RJ has a great combination of skills and an intelligence and maturity that should put him in really good standing in college.”

First Published January 13, 2023, 3:50 p.m.