Minnesota OL Greg Johnson set to return for 2026 season
The Minnesota Golden Gophers picked up another big player retention win on Tuesday morning when Dinkeytown Athletes announced that Minnesota starting left guard Greg Johnson will be returning for the 2026 season.
Johnson started all 12 games for the Gophers this season at left guard, recording 693 total snaps over 12 games.
He graded out as the Gophers’ best offensive linemen per Pro Football Focus with an overall grade of 75.6, including a run blocking grade of 73.3 and a pass blocking grade of 82.5. Across 406 pass blocking snaps, Johnson allowed just seven quarterback pressures, four quarterback hurries, and one sack this season.
Johnson was a three-star prospect as part of the 2023 recruiting class for the Golden Gophers accoridng to the Rivals Industry Ranking. The Prior Lake High School standout was ranked as a borderline top-500 prospect nationally as well as a top-50 interior offensive linemen, and the No. 3 player in the state of Minnesota.
On3 was especially high on Johnson, ranking the in-state standout as a four-star prospect, a top-25 interior offensive linemen, and No. 3 in the state.
Johnson committed to the Gophers early in the 2023 recruiting cycle, choosing the Gophers at the time over Iowa State.
Returning Johnson is pivotal for the Golden Gophers, who are expected to return three full-time starting offensive linemen for the 2026 season alongside Johnson in left tackle Nathan Roy and center Ashton Beers — though neither player has announced their return for the 2026 season via the media, social media, or Dinkeytown Athletes.
Johnson continues to impress despite moving around the offensive line
Greg Johnson probably doesn’t get enough credit for playing guard as a true freshman, to center as a sophomore, and back to guard as a junior. But the Gophers’ starting left guard did just that over the last three years, and after a sluggish sophomore season at center, Johnson moved back to guard in 2025 and was really impressive.
The stats above speak for themselves; he was one of the best offensive linemen in college football this season when it came to allowing pressures and sacks, and he got very little accolade for it.
Johnson returning for the Gophers in 2026 is a big player retention win for the program that is desperately trying to find stability on the offensive line.
The offensive line for the last three years has underperformed to Minnesota standards, and the Gophers will hope to fix those issues this fall. With the right side of the offensive line a major question mark and center, a question mark to a lesser degree, returning Johnson for 2026 provides one less worry for Minnesota in 2026 in the trenches. The Gophers can easily pen Johnson back into the starting left guard spot for the 2026 season and have the utmost confidence that he’ll once again protect Drake Lindsey’s blindside, keeping the Minnesota starting quarterback from taking big hits from behind and keeping him off the ground.
Also, by far the Gophers’ best run blocker, Johnson, will be pivotal in trying to get a Minnesota rushing attack that averaged just 103 yards per game in 2025 back on track next fall.
