Tyler Johnson, WR, Minnesota
A few weeks ago, Minnesota wide receiver Tyler Johnson made it into Touchdown Wire’s Top 11 wide receivers for this year’s draft. As I wrote at the time:
Johnson is one of the better route runners in this class, with great footwork and fluid movement into and out of his breaks. Having worked out of the slot and on the outside, he has a versatile skillset that he will bring to his first NFL training camp. Given his experience playing along the boundary, Johnson is well versed at handling press coverage, and he has the movement skills and the upper body strength to play through contact at the line and work off defenders using tight man coverage after the snap.
All of this still remains true. Johnson’s route-running ability, coupled with what he can do against press coverage, makes him an appealing option in this deep wide receiver group. But there are a few red flags.
His pre-draft process is one. Unlike Denzel Mims, who has crushed the build-up to the draft, Johnson has not exactly covered himself in glory. He was invited to the East-West Shrine Game, but withdrew from that week citing a wish to focus on preparing for the Combine. Then Johnson decided to forgo testing out in Indianapolis, saving his workout for his Pro Day.
Which was canceled as COVID-19 started to make its way across the globe.
Now none of this has anything to do with whether Johnson can beat a cornerback’s press attempt at the line of scrimmage, extend the separation into his route stem, and maintain speed by sinking his hips into his break, maintaining that separation. None of these decisions have anything to do with how Johnson cradles the football into the chest with his hands as he breaks free, and picks up yardage after the catch. None of those things matter with what he does on the field.
But “preparing for the test” matters to old-school NFL decision-makers. What compounds the issues for Johnson are the rumblings about “character issues” that came up during the college football season:
What does he do exceptionally well that should make him a better prospect? He’s not fast. He’s not big. He’s not getting good character reports from area scouts. He wasn’t a senior bowl invite. I don’t understand the twitter love for this guy https://t.co/PGyBUhJ2jq
— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) November 25, 2019
I mean, that does not add up to a pristine scouting evaluation.
Again, I am in the camp that Johnson is worthy of an earlier selection than a sixth- or seventh-rounder. But I might be out on a limb on that one. With these pre-draft red flags – added to some of the areas where Johnson struggles – it makes for a pretty risky picture come draft time.