Tyler Johnson: An underrated gem in a historic WR class

Drops

As stated earlier, Johnson can make every catch. His catch radius is especially impressive considering he doesn’t have great athleticism or length. But he still does have those concentration drops. He’s not quite as reliable as you’d like from your slot receiver, but at least it’s not a matter of him having stone hands. It’s just something he’s going to have to practice.

No Combine testing

Johnson’s biggest negative is that he just isn’t a great athlete. He lacks the second gear to take the top off a defense and while he had the opportunity to quell some concerns over his athleticism at the Combine, he did not participate in any athletic drills. That’s not a good sign, because it clearly means he and his camp were wary of how teams would react to the numbers Johnson would have put up.

On tape, he’s not a dynamic athlete or a burner. But he appears to meet the minimum speed threshold, and shouldn’t be considered slow. A player like Kelvin Harmon is slow, and unable to create separation against NFL defenders. Johnson is not at that level, and with his body control, should be able to overcome his lack of elite speed, as long as his offense doesn’t ask him to be a deep threat.

Best in the slot

Johnson can play outside, but he’ll be best suited to play big slot in the NFL. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it will limit his stock as teams tend to value outside receivers more highly. He’ll need to clean up his footwork off the line of scrimmage as he’ll be facing some very good slot corners who will press him in man coverage.