Scouting Anthony Johnson
Towards the end of last season, the Jets claimed defensive lineman Anthony Johnson from the Patriots' practice squad. Despite contributing to the rotation down the stretch, Johnson hasn't received much attention this offseason, so we're taking a look at what he brings to the table.
The 24-year old Johnson is listed as 6'2" and 295 pounds and was an undrafted free agent out of LSU. In three seasons with the Dolphins, Patriots and Jets, he's played in 18 games and recorded 14 tackles.
Background
Johnson was one of the top high-school recruits in the country when he headed to LSU in 2011. He was a high school all-American with 67.5 career sacks.
Johnson was an immediate contributor for the Tigers, earning freshman all-American honors as he played in all 13 games in a rotational role, recording one sack.
In 2012, he started three games and ended up with 30 tackles and three sacks, then became a full time starter in 2013 and was named all-SEC as he registered 35 tackles, nine tackles for loss and another three sacks.
Johnson opted to enter the NFL draft early and was initially expected to go on the second day, but ended up going undrafted at which point he was signed by the Dolphins as an undrafted free agent.
His rookie year with Miami saw him contributing off the bench, but came to a premature end when he suffered a season-ending ankle injury and was placed on injured reserve. Johnson didn't make the team in 2015, as he was released in final cuts. He didn't play at all that year, although he spent part of the the year on Washington's practice squad.
In 2016, he signed with New England and made an impression in preseason. He was on the roster at the start of the year but was released a couple of times to the practice squad and eventually got claimed by the Jets after just four appearances with New England, although that did include his first career start.
Johnson played in seven games with the Jets, recording four tackles in a rotational role.
Measurables
Johnson's weight has fluctuated rather dramatically over the last several year's as he has attempted to shed the tweener label and establish a role for himself. While at Miami, he was bulked up to play nose tackle and got up as high as 330 pounds, but when he went to New England last year, he showed up weighing only 280 pounds which apparently left the team wondering if they brought in the wrong guy. He's currently listed at 295.
As you can see, Johnson's combine measurables were poor and that may have been part of the reason he went undrafted:
That was particularly surprising given that Johnson apparently ran a hand-timed 40-yard dash in the 4.8 range when at college and has also been clocked at 4.7 earlier on in his college career.
Usage
Johnson played as a 4-3 defensive tackle in college and that's been where he's played most of the time in the NFL. However, as noted, he was bulked up while playing for Miami as they looked to transition him into a nose tackle role.
The Jets experimented with playing him coming off the edge towards the end of the 2016 season, even playing him as an outside linebacker on three snaps. Perhaps they will persevere with that, given their lack of depth in terms of edge defenders. Miami conducted a similar experiment with him in the 2015 preseason.
Johnson had lost almost 50 pounds in a year before he arrived at New England, remarking that he felt he would have a better career as an explosive interior rusher than a space stuffing run defender.
Motor
The book on Johnson is that his motor can run hot and cold. However, he showed some impressive hustle during preseason last year when he hustled after the ball and almost recovered a fumble and then did the same thing and did make the recovery on the very next play:
(Note: Johnson wears #65 in the above clip, but wore #96 in regular season action with New England and #75 with the Jets)
He hasn't shown that he can handle a starter's workload yet at the NFL level. The most snaps he's played in a regular season game is 25 and the most in a preseason game was 35.
Run defense
As noted earlier, Johnson seems to have transitioned away from being a run stuffer, although he should have the requisite techniques to hold up against the run, even if his lower weight means he can no longer handle a double team.
In college, Johnson impressed with his ability to penetrate upfield and get off blocks:
However, he can be driven off the line at times and his lack of length will hurt him against some linemen.
On this play, on goal line defense, he penetrated into the backfield, but was sealed to the inside by the tight end blocking down:
Pass rush
One of Johnson's best attributes is his quick get-off. However, he has had issues in the past with jumping offside. He had four neutral zone infractions in preseason in 2015, which was probably the main reason he didn't make Miami's roster.
Otherwise, he was offside once in preseason in 2014 but hasn't had any other defensive penalties at the NFL level.
Johnson's pass rush numbers in regular season action haven't been that impressive and he's yet to record a sack. However, he has 3.5 sacks in preseason action and has recorded pressure at almost twice the rate.
Johnson flashes some power as a pass rusher, using an effective bull rush to collapse the pocket and get into the quarterback's face.
On this play he shows some explosion as he gets off the block to pressure up the middle, arriving just too late to get in on the sack:
Johnson doesn't have a variety of pass rush moves, but he did spin off a block to flush Cam Newton out of the pocket to force a fourth down incompletion on one preseason play. Here, he shows off a good rip move to get upfield on his man for a pressure that leads to a turnover:
Tackling
Johnson hasn't been statistically productive in preseason or regular season action, but has successfully bottled up some runs. He had a decent closing burst.
He perhaps should have made the tackle to complete the sack here on Tom Brady:
Otherwise, Johnson hasn't missed any tackles in NFL regular season action and only a couple in preseason games.
Batting passes
Johnson has shown a knack for batting down passes over the years. In preseason with New England, he got his hand up well to bat a pass up into the air, which could easily have led to a turnover. He also had three pass break-ups in college and this interception:
Johnson should perhaps play with his head up more often. On this play he got a good surge, but ended up facing backwards so he couldn't get his hands up to disrupt the passer:
Special teams
Johnson hasn't made many special teams contributions, although the Jets used him as a blocker on the kick return unit and he's player here and there in various roles. He had a special teams penalty for holding in preseason in 2015.
Instincts/Intelligence
As already noted, Johnson has had an an issue with jumping offside in the past, but he didn't do this in over 200 preseason and regular season snaps in 2016, so hopefully that's something he's figured out.
He perhaps hesitated too much on this play, allowing the quarterback to get the throw off before he was able to disrupt it.
Attitude/Demeanor
Johnson is a fiery player on the field when he makes a big play, although he does have a bit of a reputation as an underachiever, having been an elite prospect for most of his pre-NFL career.
Getting into such good shape before the 2016 season was certainly impressive to his coaches though.
Injuries
Other than his ankle injury, which happened in a late season practice in 2014, Johnson has been injury-free at the NFL level. He attributed the ankle injury to carrying too much weight at the time.
Scheme Fit
Often when you have a tweener like Johnson, they can be a useful asset in a flexible system like the one Todd Bowles seeks to operate.
Based on how he was used at the end of the season, I would expect him to compete to be Muhammad Wilkerson's back-up.
Conclusions
Johnson was a once-elite prospect who seems driven to resurrect his career, but faces an uphill climb to get many opportunities with the Jets.
Maybe Bowles liked what he saw of Johnson last season and will find a role for him, but I think it's more likely that Sheldon Richardson sees a lot of playing time on the inside as the Jets will look to bolster his value for a potential mid-season trade. That will squeeze out some of the younger players competing for time unless there are injuries.
Still, if Richardson is ultimately traded, then that might create an opportunity for a player like Johnson or Lawrence Thomas to step up in due course.
It's a bit difficult to assess a player like Johnson who seems to have reinvented himself a couple of times over the past five or so years. However, he obviously has some ability and determination, so we perhaps shouldn't count him out altogether.
UP NEXT: We take a look at Brandin Bryant, another defensive lineman picked up last year.