Antonio Johnson is a potential first-round pick and is even rated the second-best safety in the 2023 draft by PFF. The 6-3, 200-pound safety missed a few games due to injury last season but still managed to help bring much-needed stability to an extremely young defense playing in a new system.
His sophomore year is where he put up his best numbers during his three years at Texas A&M. In the 12 games he started in 2021 he was second on the team with 79 tackles, had five pass breakups, and ended the season with 8.5 tackles for loss. Johnson was named to the AP All-SEC second team and a PPF All-American during that same year.
Like Achane, Johnson also decided to leave a year early to enter the NFL draft. He will be putting his skill on display along with his fellow Aggies. Check out this excerpt from The Draft Network:
“…Johnson is an instinctive defender that plays a physical brand of football and lines up all over the field. Texas A&M aligns Johnson as a slot corner, split zone safety, and even occasionally as a linebacker and he shows comfort in each of those roles. Johnson is a sharp processor that stays leveraged and has a rapid downhill trigger. He is aggressive in pursuit and physical when playing through contact. Johnson is an outstanding tackler that embraces the fundamentals of arriving balanced, wrapping, and bringing his feet through…”
If Johnson is taken in the first round it will be the first time a defensive player was taken in the first two rounds since 2017. We believe he will end that drought in April when he is picked. Please take a few moments to take a look at some photos over the course of his career.