2022 NFL Draft Profile: EDGE Jermaine Johnson II

Florida State’s Jermaine Johnson II is a rising EDGE prospect with a strong chance of coming off the board in the first round of the upcoming 2022 NFL Draft. From Eden Prairie, Minnesota, Johnson was academically ineligible to play Division I football out of high school, so he spent his first two collegiate seasons at Independence Community College in Independence, Kansas. While there, he appeared on Netflix’s documentary series “Last Chance U.”

He transferred to Georgia for his junior and senior seasons, and then finally transferred to Florida State for his final year of NCAA eligibility. It was in this last year with the Seminoles that Johnson blossomed into a bona fide NFL prospect. He stepped into a larger role than he had had at Georgia, and capitalized with 11.5 sacks and 70 total tackles in 12 games. He earned First-Team All-ACC honors and was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year.

Around FPC

NFL RUMORS: Deshaun Watson Traded To The Cleveland Browns

NFL NEWS: Raiders Opinion: Tae Day And Everybody’s Celebratin’

NFL DRAFT: 2022 NFL Draft Profile: OG Kenyon Green

NFL MOCK DRAFT: FPC 2022 NFL Mock Draft 1.0: Lions Snag Malik Willis

NHL: NHL Insights: Tyler Toffoli Trade, Jack Eichel’s Return and Wild West

PODCAST: Full Press NFL Podcast Ep 36: Deshaun Watson Traded To The Cleveland Browns

Strengths

Length and Power: Johnson has close to ideal physical traits for an edge defender in the NFL. His 34″ arms gives him plus-length for the position. He also has excellent explosion, as evidenced by his 92nd-percentile broad jump for his position at the NFL Combine. Johnson puts these physical advantages to use on the football field. If he can create first contact, he can use an effective long-arm move to drive the tackle back into the pocket to collapse onto the quarterback. Once he gets an angle or step on a blocker, he uses burst, length and closing speed to prevent the blocker from recovering. Johnson feasts on mediocre to sub-par tackles, exploiting their limitations to have some monster days.

Violent and Effective Hands: Johnson isn’t yet an especially technically refined rusher, but he can still outduel tackles in close combat with simply how forceful and violent his hands are. He uses a potent two-hand swipe to defeat the hands of blockers and win on outside rushes. If a tackle is sloppy with his technique, Johnson can also get underneath the tackle’s arms and forklift him out of the way. Johnson also uses his strong hands in the run game to hold the point of attack, for the most part, and set the edge.

Weaknesses

Coverage/Agility: Johnson is a very good linear athlete when moving forward, but he tends to struggles going backwards or laterally. As a result, he does a poor job in coverage against running backs or tight ends. Ideally, he wouldn’t be asked to perform much coverage as a pro, but it’s still a real limitation on tape. Also, his lack of great agility shows up on tape when he rushes. He struggles turning the corner quickly on tackles and flattening towards the quarterback. Johnson is a tad stiff, so he rarely dips his shoulder around the edge the way premier speed rushers do. These constraints should prevent him from being a standup 3-4 outside linebacker with true coverage responsibilities at the next level.

Pass Rush Repertoire: For a player whose forte is getting after the quarterback, Johnson has a pretty limited bag of tricks. As is stands, his toolbox contains a long-armed bull rush, an inside crossover, an outside two-hand swipe, and that’s it. What’s more is that he doesn’t effectively mix up those moves to keep tackles off balance. It’s a little concerning that a fifth-year senior still has an underdeveloped pass-rushing plan, but his improvement from 2020 to 2021 suggests he can still continue to grow.

Ideal Role: Starting Defensive End in a Wide-9 4-3 Scheme

As mentioned above, Johnson’s struggles in coverage make him a difficult fit for most 3-4 based defenses. However, at 254 pounds, he’s relatively light for a 4-3 base end. As such, his best fit would be in a defense that keeps his hand in the dirt but aligns him out wide to better take advantage of his speed and athleticism.

Potential Fits

At the high-end of his potential landing spots, a team like the Atlanta Falcons at 8th overall would be a logical fit. If he goes off the board somewhere in the mid to late first round, the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys are teams that could covet his abilities.

– Ryan Cuneo is the Managing Editor of Full Press Giants. He covers the New York Giants. Like and follow on Follow @ryan_cuneo Follow @FullPressGiants and Facebook.