Collin Johnson | WR | Texas
Elevator Pitch
A massive wideout with plus physicality, length and ball skills, Johnson isn’t going to burn anyone deep as a vertical threat or a playmaker after the catch. What he is, though, is a player who can excel in tight windows and consistently win 50/50-ball battles, and he does that well enough that he should warrant plenty of looks on Day 2.
Vitals
Height | 6-6
Weight | 222
Strengths
Johnson brings rare height to the wide receiver position that should be enticing to plenty of NFL teams looking for a big-bodied presence at the ‘X’ slot.
Very few receivers are 6-foot-6, so Johnson would instantly be one of the biggest players at his position in the league. His wingspan and catch radius make him a physical mismatch against essentially every cornerback he goes up against. He also has plenty of bulk and is a strong, imposing target in tight-window situations. Johnson excels at boxing out defenders on the jump ball, and he can also maintain the inside track when trying to catch balls on shorter routes like slants. He also can jump pretty high, which gives him even more of an advantage when tracking down passes.
Despite his size, Johnson is a fluid athlete who plays with good overall body control. He has very good ball skills and does a great job of making adjustments to make the tough grab. He has solid fluidity in his hips for his size, and he has the footwork necessarily to utilize subtle techniques like veering his route to attack the blind spot of the defensive back. As one would expect for such a big receiver, he does well against press, as he has the physicality and the hand technique to shed tight coverage at the line of scrimmage. He also brings some solid value in as a blocker on running plays. His bloodline also has NFL ties, as his dad, Johnnie Johnson, was a first-round pick out of Texas as a safety in the 1980s.
Weaknesses
While Johnson possesses plenty of high-caliber physical traits, speed is not among them. That simply isn’t a big part of his game, as his acceleration off the snap is pretty pedestrian, and his overall deep speed is average. He serves much more value as a short-yardage chain mover and a red-zone threat than he does as a receiver to get out in space. He can’t change direction seamlessly after the catch, and his overall lateral agility isn’t all that great.
Johnson has shown some potential as a route runner and is admittedly better than he was earlier in his collegiate career, but as is the case with most big receivers, he struggles with sinking his hips into his cuts. He isn’t a sharp route runner and doesn’t have the sudden burst coming out of his breaks to consistently create significant separation. His lack of suddenness in his cuts could limit the route tree he runs in the pros.
Projection: 3rd Round
[vertical-gallery id=613832]