Big Board ranking: #61

Positional ranking: #4

 

Overview

Position: S

College: Texas A&M

Class: Junior

Age: 21

 

Measurables

Height: 6’2”

Weight: 198 lbs.

Arm length: 31 1/8”

Hand size: 9 3/4″

 

Athletic testing

40-yard dash: 4.52 sec.

10-yard split: 1.57 sec.

Vertical jump: 31.0”

Broad jump: 118.0”

Bench press: 8 reps

3-cone drill: N/A

Short shuttle: N/A

 

Strengths

Tall safety with an ideal build. Filled a variety of roles and can change primary alignment depending on the opponent. Very effective and smooth in man coverage out of the slot. Quick to defend in-breaking routes from off coverage. Held up defending opposing wideouts. Experience covering running backs and tight ends. Able to recover when he loses a step with length and build-up speed. Great play recognition and sees the field well. Takes aggressive run fits from the safety spot. Very willing to play inside the box and go into traffic. Effective making head-on tackles to bring down ball-carriers. Will deliver thumping hits going downhill. Rangy tackler in space that wraps with aggression. Impressive ability to quickly breakdown for a player his size. Can chop down opponents when given the opportunity. Able to dip around offensive linemen to get in the backfield. Great dip/fluidity to get around blockers in general. Strong holding his ground versus blockers. Will quickly shed blocks to make a tackle. Comfortable sticking his nose in to make a tackle when he gets into the backfield as a blitzer. Fiery and competitive. Eventually exited the game for good but tried playing through pulled hamstring versus Alabama (2022).

 

Weaknesses

Has some stiffness flipping his hips. Could struggle versus shiftier NFL competition in the slot. Shows some susceptibility to double moves. Can get caught flat-footed defending deeper routes. Average acceleration when not going downhill. Will overrun the hole in pursuit (allowed big cutback run to Alabama running back Jahmyr Gibbs in 2022 matchup). Limited ball production with one career interception.

 

NFL comparison

Ryan Neal

 

Conclusion

Overall, Johnson is a prototype safety with the size and skillset to match tight ends in coverage. Teams should use him as a robber and in man coverage from various spots while limiting his deep zone responsibilities.