Overview

Position: RB

College: Iowa

Class: Junior

Age: 21

 

Measurables

Height: 6’1”

Weight: 224 lbs.

Arm length: 33”

Hand size: 9 5/8”

 

Athletic testing

40-yard dash: 4.57 sec.

10-yard split: 1.62 sec.

Vertical jump: N/A

Broad jump: N/A

Bench press: N/A

3-cone drill: N/A

Short shuttle: N/A

 

Strengths

Great overall size and strength. Slashing runner with exceptional balance. Rips off chunk gains both between the tackles and on outside runs. Outstanding power to shed arm tackles. Exceptional combination of vision and patience to follow the play design. Tremendous vision in general. Very instinctive to see things early. Decisive when the hole is developed. Often slips through a crease that opens late with perfect timing. Shows extreme patience to nearly come to a stop before a crease opens. Powers past linebackers and will use a quick staff arm. Great cutback vision and instincts. Phenomenal feel on a variety of outside runs. Able to kick into another gear past the line of scrimmage into the open field. Consistently gets into open space on outside runs. Excellent vision and pacing on outside runs. Great patience to allow his blockers to lead the way. Has slipperiness weaving through blockers while going downhill. Fluid with feet and body movements to get downhill and make slight movements for the optimal path. Sees the entire field with tremendous second-level vision. Ideal pace to let things develop in space. Usually sheds low tackles and tackles from the side. Keeps his feet churning to move forward after contact. Doesn’t go down easily when wrapped by defensive linemen. Terrific feet for a bigger back. Excellent juke cut in the backfield. Very effective on counter runs. Great ball security with zero fumbles in 2024. Soft hands on throws in the flat. Impressive hands to bring in low passes. Secures the ball and immediately turns into a runner. Used on pop passes. Very good as a pass blocker. Very aware to pick up stunts.

 

Weaknesses

Average explosiveness and burst. Average long speed. Could be more aggressive accelerating early in the run when getting downhill with no clear rushing lane. Less elusive and can be chopped down by more aggressive hitters. Seems to have the skillset to do more but ran a limited route tree.

 

NFL comparison

Najee Harris

 

Conclusion

Overall, Johnson is a big, slashing power back with a great combination of strength, vision, and feel as a runner. He should be a workhorse option with an ability to consistently pick up chunk yardage on a variety of inside and outside runs.

 

Big Board ranking: #47 | Positional ranking: #6