Northern Iowa RB David Johnson accepts Senior Bowl Invite

The Senior Bowl Bowl announced their first wave of accepted invitations, including Northern Iowa running back David Johnson. Listed at 6’1″ 229lbs, Johnson is a big back that has spent much of his senior season climbing up the record books in the FCS division for his career yardage total. Johnson was one of a pair of FCS players that were announced to accept invitations released along with Jaquiski Tartt from Samford.

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The announcement that the Panther runner had accepted the invitation is on the heels of a huge win for the program as they win in convincing fashion over the previously undefeated North Dakota State Bison. North Dakota State is the defending FCS National Champion and have been a juggernaut, but in no small part due to the contributions of Johnson, were able to take home the victory in front of the home fans, 23-3. Johnson carried the ball 28 times for 138 yards with 2 catches for another 36 yards.

Johnson will be going to Mobile in the wake of a group of FCS running backs that have gone onto early success in the NFL. Terrance West out of Towson was a third round pick to the Cleveland Browns while Jerick McKinnon was selected by the Minnesota Vikings out of Georgia Southern. More similar to Johnson’s situation is Lorenzo Taliferro out of Coastal Carolina was a fourth round pick to the Baltimore Ravens. Both Johnson and Taliferro are big backs that also have to prove that being tall is not going to hinder their ability to produce in the NFL.

Johnson is a big, strong back that can run the ball, but has a background in track and been a huge asset as a receiver for the Panthers, catching 129 passes for 1,593 yards and 13 touchdowns to date in his collegiate career. If he can also prove to be an effective blocker against the competition at the Senior Bowl, it should go a long way in helping his cause for the 2015 NFL Draft.