Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 2 games
| Wk | Opp | CMP/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | YPA | QBR | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 31-0vs Charleston Southern | 28/39 | 281 | 1 | 0 | 7.2 | 66.4 | Season-high 281 yds |
| Wk 2 | L 7-22@ Clemson | 27/47 | 244 | 1 | 0 | 5.2 | 36.4 | |
| Total | 55/86 | 525 | 2 | 0 | 6.2 | 51.4 |
#7
Max Johnson
Max Johnson packed up and started over at Georgia Southern, and the new tape already reads 2,815 pass YDS, 2,500-yd club.
6′5″ · 220 lb · Athens, GA · Oconee County
CFB Index 43 · #77 of 140 QBsHigh confidenceTransferred North Carolina → Georgia Southern for 2026
CFB Index
A single number blending on-field production (an EPA-based value lane) with box-score output for this player's position.
0-100, scaled within each position's own cohort — not directly comparable across positions.
The numbers
525
passing yards · 2026
2 TD · 0 INT · 6.1 per attempt
2 games into 2026 so far -- Backed by 372 yds · 5 TD -- top 1% passing TDs game. -- Best game: 281 pass yds, 1 TD, vs Charleston Southern
The play that turned itSwung Texas A&M from 28% to 78% to win.Texas A&M at Ole Miss · 38-35
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
4 quarterback for Georgia Southern. 2026: 2 games with a box-score line.
- Signed as a 4-star recruit to LSU in 2020.
- Transferred from North Carolina to Georgia Southern in 2026.
- Max Johnson named Georgia Southern starter (Aug 23) Reported
How he plays
Operates within the system without forcing anything.
Interception rate: 92nd percentile.
The full scouting read
In Their Words
106 windows · 2026 fan posts
southern×157.4max×164.5named×33.0georgia×17.9starting×11.5
“He left Georgia Southern at just the right time... when Max Johnson gets hurt behind a bad Oline.... they will have a rough year... maybe ecen a whole new coaching staff by 2027.”
youtube/JMUSports · fan post, verbatim
Max Johnson
Filling the Shoesas of 2026-09-15
Max Johnson arrives at Georgia Southern with a new fit to prove and an old chapter behind him.
525PASS YDS2PASS TD0RUSH YDS
PASS YDS · 2,500-YD CLUB
2,815
2815 passing yards — clears the 2,500-QB volume bar.
Read the story so far
AI-generated narrative · may contain errors · not journalism · updated 2026-09-15
His career
He was winning awards before he was old enough to be a story.
The week the volume broke through — put up 305 yds at Ole Miss.Ole Miss · L 35-382023
20206 games
- Signed with LSU4-star out of Oconee County
20224 games
- Entered the portal
2024
The snaps went the other way.
- Entered the portal
2026
- Entered the portal
- Entered the portal
- Entered the portal
Career arc
HS
Recruit
★★★★
CFB
College
4 teams
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Badges
- Program Benchmark
Coaching lineage · 2020–2026
3 coaches2020
Georgia Southern
2021era →
Kevin Whitley
Georgia Southern
Played under 3 different head coaches: Chad Lunsford, Kevin Whitley, and Clay Helton. Multi-era developmental context.
Where He Ended Up · Transfer
Transferred to Georgia Southern
2025North Carolina
2026Georgia Southern
2026 snapshot
Season context · Team result + system
2020LSU5-5HC: Ed Orgeron · Balanced, fast tempo
2021LSU6-7HC: Ed Orgeron · Balanced
2022Texas A&M5-7HC: Jimbo Fisher · Balanced
2023Texas A&M7-6HC: Elijah Robinson · Balanced
2024North Carolina6-7HC: Freddie Kitchens · Run-leaning
2025North Carolina4-8HC: Bill Belichick · Balanced, slow tempo
2026Georgia Southern1-1HC: Clay Helton · Pass-heavy
Where this profile ranks vs the QB cohort
Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles
High confidence
Elite: interception rate (92nd percentile). Strength: interceptions (92nd percentile). Concern: success rate (4th percentile).
Real play-by-play efficiency
Box-score rates (8)
Season trend
Last seasonThis season
EPA / dropback
26th → 27th percentile
Success rate
31st → 4th percentile
Explosive rate
1st → 19th percentile
Sack rate
98th → 58th percentile
Interception rate
99th → 92nd percentile
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).
Passing profile
Pass Profile · True throw depth (charted plays)
Adjusted ANY/A, sack rate, and where the yards came from
86 of 86 attempts matched to play-by-play
85 of 86 attempts charted for true throw depth
Adjusted ANY/A
5.9753 of 75 QBsSack rate
4.4%34 of 75 QBsRarely sacked (34 of 75), but Adjusted ANY/A hasn't followed (53 of 75).
Adjusted ANY/A uses full-season box-score totals (attempts, yards, TDs, INTs); sack rate is play-by-play-derived.
Behind LOS · Negative air yds
12% of attempts (10)
90%comp
Air -4.0 · YAC 10.0 avg
Short · 0–9 air yds
59% of attempts (50)
76%comp
Air 3.6 · YAC 3.8 avg
Middle · 10–19 air yds
18% of attempts (15)
33%comp
Air 14.5 · YAC 0.2 avg
Deep · 20+ air yds
12% of attempts (10)
20%comp
Air 28.1 · YAC 3.0 avg
Overall 64.0% completion on 86 attempts · 20% completion on 10 deep attempts (20+ air yds).
Splits & context
Splits
Per-game splits
Through 2 games: 262 YDS/g, 1.0 TD/g, 6.2 YPA, 0.0 INT/g — splits start at 3 games.
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Clay Helton
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.
Awards
Player standing · 2026
Backup
On the two-deep and pushing for snaps.
Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Career stats
| Season | Team | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Georgia Southern | 55 | 86 | 64.0% | 525 | 6.1 | 2 | 0 | 122.9 | 34 | -- | -- |
| 2025 | North Carolina | 54 | 87 | 62.1% | 437 | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 111.8 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2024 | North Carolina | 12 | 19 | 63.2% | 71 | 3.7 | 0 | 1 | 84.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2023 | Texas A&M | 118 | 190 | 62.1% | 1,452 | 7.6 | 9 | 5 | 136.7 | 63 | -- | -- |
| 2022 | Texas A&M | 43 | 71 | 60.6% | 517 | 7.3 | 3 | 0 | 135.7 | 36 | -- | -- |
| 2021 | LSU | 225 | 373 | 60.3% | 2,815 | 7.5 | 27 | 6 | 144.4 | 46 | -- | -- |
| 2020 | LSU | 88 | 150 | 58.7% | 1,069 | 7.1 | 8 | 1 | 134.8 | 42 | -- | -- |
| Career | 595 | 976 | 61.0% | 6,886 | 7.1 | 51 | 13 | 134.8 | 47 | -- | -- |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Georgia Southern | 8 | -3 | -0.4 | 0 | -- |
| 2025 | North Carolina | 9 | 38 | 4.2 | 0 | -- |
| 2024 | North Carolina | 6 | 10 | 1.7 | 1 | -- |
| 2023 | Texas A&M | 51 | 27 | 0.5 | 2 | -- |
| 2022 | Texas A&M | 29 | 58 | 2.0 | 0 | -- |
| 2021 | LSU | 78 | -41 | -0.5 | 1 | -- |
| 2020 | LSU | 54 | 119 | 2.2 | 2 | -- |
| Career | 235 | 208 | 0.9 | 6 | -- |
Signature game
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2026
W 31–0
281 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 66.4
Dominant 31-point win at home against Charleston Southern.
With A. Smith — 40 AVG · 42 LONG · 4 NO · A. Hollins — 8 rec · 106 yds · 1 TD
Signature plays
Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|
The plays that mattered most
- Week 1 · Charleston Southern · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +4.47Ashton Hollins 57 Yd pass from Max Johnson (Tripp Bryant Kick)
- Week 1 · Charleston Southern · 3&6 · Q3 · EPA +3.59(09:37) No Huddle-Shotgun #7 M.Johnson pass complete short middle to #19 J.Dallas caught at GASO41, for 29 yards to the CSU37 (#9 A.Carter), 1ST DOWN
- Week 2 · Clemson · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +3.29(03:10) No Huddle-Shotgun #7 M.Johnson pass complete deep right to #0 A.Hollins caught at CLEM06, for 42 yards to the CLEM00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 03:03, 1ST DOWN #95 T.Bryant kick attempt good (H: #25 A.Smith, LS: #41 C.Glenn)
- Week 2 · Clemson · 3&10 · Q2 · EPA +3.05(03:34) No Huddle-Shotgun #7 M.Johnson pass complete short left to #18 J.Ware caught at CLEM43, for 13 yards to the CLEM42, End Of Play, 1ST DOWN
- Week 2 · Clemson · 2&12 · Q2 · EPA +2.69(04:23) No Huddle-Shotgun #7 M.Johnson pass complete short right to #18 J.Ware caught at GS28, for 22 yards to the GS45 (#3 E.Washington II), out of bounds, 1ST DOWN
- Week 2 · Clemson · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA +2.60(03:09) No Huddle-Shotgun #7 M.Johnson pass complete deep right to #0 A.Hollins caught at CLEM45, for 30 yards to the CLEM45, out of bounds at CLEM45, 1ST DOWN
- Week 1 · Charleston Southern · 3&8 · Q1 · EPA +2.56(13:42) No Huddle-Shotgun #7 M.Johnson pass complete short left to #87 R.Helms caught at GASO44, for 9 yards to the GASO49 (#16 D.Mullins), 1ST DOWN
- Week 2 · Clemson · 3&11 · Q3 · EPA -2.54(07:43) No Huddle-Shotgun #7 M.Johnson sacked for loss of 15 yards to the CLEM50 (#5 R.Hanafin)
- Week 1 · Charleston Southern · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA -2.35(13:20) No Huddle-Shotgun #7 M.Johnson pass complete short left to #1 T.Gibbs caught at GASO49, for 6 yards loss to the GASO43 (#5 S.Zayachkowsky)
- Week 1 · Charleston Southern · 2&7 · Q2 · EPA +2.31(12:49) No Huddle-Shotgun #7 M.Johnson pass complete short middle to #35 T.Todd caught at GASO22, for 24 yards to the GASO43 (#12 K.Hooks), out of bounds, 1ST DOWN
Game log
How he plays
Play style
Operates within the system without forcing anything.
CFB Index positional classification
DNA match
Player DNA
Pocket Passer
Balanced passer who operates within the system, without one standout number carrying the profile.
QB
His 2026 production profile sits closest to Kurt Benkert’s 2017 season.
Matches Kurt on
Weight
INT rate
Total pass EPA (college ability)
Differs from Kurt on
Recruiting rating (higher)
TD rate (lower)
Through 7 college seasons, his career arc tracks closest to Hayden Wolff’s path through Western Michigan.
Matches Hayden on
Height
Completion %
Yards per attempt
Player DNA
Players who play like Max Johnson
Heisman trajectory
Heisman Trajectory · 2026
Peak #248
Peaked at #248 this season.
Background
2025-26: Played in four games at North Carolina, starting one … Completed 62.1% of his passes for 432 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions … Transferred to Georgia Southern in January. 2024-25: Suffered a season-ending injury in the season opener against Minnesota … Was granted a medical...
Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology