Florida State receiver Johnny Wilson is a giant for his current position. Will NFL teams be able to convince him to switch to tight end?
A four-star recruit out of Calabasas High School in Pacoima, California, Johnny Wilson had offers from Florida State, Georgia, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oregon, Texas, UCLA and Washington on the table. He originally committed to Oregon, and then changed his choice to Arizona State to play under head coach Herm Edwards. He then transferred to Florida State for the 2022 season after everything fell apart for the Sun Devils. In 2023, Wilson caught 41 passes on 70 targets for 617 yards and two touchdowns. Four of those receptions came on passes of 20 or more air yards for 131 yards.
The interesting question about Wilson at the NFL level is whether he can be convinced to be a tight end. Based on his media session at the combine, it’ll be a tough go.
“If you go look at the Louisville game, the tape speaks for itself,” he told me. “I feel like every week, I showed what I can do. Just look at the Clemson game; they had an elite defense, but I was able to create separation and make some plays against them.”
PLUSES
— Wilson’s measurables (6′ 6⅜”, 231, 84½” wingspan) are all 97th to 99th percentile for receivers since 1999. He uses all of that to make himself a consistent contested catch winner with height and size, but also subtle pushoffs and the ability to box cornerbacks out from the line of scrimmage.
— Wilson isn’t the twitchiest receiver in short areas, but he’s better moving into the angles of his routes than you might expect with this many moving parts. Can turn sharply into slants, comebacks, and curls.
— Has decent acceleration in a straight line, though he’s not a third-level burner.
— Can beat press coverage with good foot-feints and crossovers from the line of scrimmage.
MINUSES
— For a guy this size, you’d certainly want to see a wider catch radius. Too many misses when the ball isn’t thrown in his area.
— Had five drops last season, most of which were timing-related.
— Needs to catch the ball away from his body to take better advantage of his ridiculous frame.
— Blocking is iffy at best, which you don’t want to see from a guy this huge. He’s more adept at using that physicality to gain separation than he is a blocker with intent.
— Not quite the YAC monster you might expect.
Maybe teams can convince Wilson to believe in a WR/TE hybrid role where he can win as both an X-Iso and a Y-Iso player. There are things he needs to clean up before he’ll be able to fulfill his athletic potential, but I’d be interested in thinking outside the box a bit in this instance. He brings a lot of fascinating possibilities to the right offense.
