From now until the draft, I will write about those players that I believe will become good NFL players in general, and good fits for the system run by Andy Reid. Charles Johnson should become a very solid pro - he does remind me of Saints DE Charles Grant, also formerly a Bulldog, as well as a younger version of Darren Howard. I think he will be a very good left defensive end in a 4-3. He is just over 6' 2", and weighs a legitimate 270. While you'd like a DE to be a little taller, that doesn't matter to me as much as the fact that he has long arms, and room on his frame to add another 15 pounds without losing too much quickness or agility. One reason I believe Jerome McDougle struggled so much in the NFL besides health problems is that he has short arms, and is too easily locked up by long armed offensive tackles.
Johnson is an exciting prospect because he is still a "baby," born in 1986, and declared early for the NFL after a superb junior year. I like taking players high in the draft who come from solid programs where the tape shows them going against decent athletes. Johnson was battle tested in the SEC. I like that he improved alot from his earlier career at UGA in his junior year -- he is rising. He makes plays too, and is not just a workout warrior. He was productive on film, and had 9 1/2 sacks last year, to go with 29.5 tackles for loss. He has a knack of timing his leap to bat down passes, and he goes angry to the ball and goes for the strip, causing 5 forced fumbles.
You watch this kid, and you see a guy who can hold the point versus the run, with good strength. What he did on the field strength wise showed up at the combine, where he shared a postion best 33 reps on the bench. Athletically, he has a nice burst and takeoff for a good sized end, and uses his hands well. He uses leverage, gets low and can bull rush as well as take the edge. He sets the edge versus the run. He has the quickness to chase plays down the line of scrimmage. He is powerful and explosive, with a really nice 34 on the broad jump, and a fantastic 9'11" vertical. What he lacks some shows up in his weak 3 cone time of 7.5 seconds --he is not a more loose hipped, change of direction guy like Nebraska's Adam Carriker, who did the 3 cone in 7.06 seconds. What this means is he will hold the fort, and runs well down the line and charging up the field, but probably isn't athletic enough to take on left Offensive tackles in the NFL as a pass rusher. Thus, he's a LDE in my opinion. He ran a 4.84 40 at the combine, but has reportedly run as low as 4.68 in the past. I think he would be a great fit as a LDE in Jim Johnson's scheme. He may go late first, or all the way to late third round. My guess is the Eagles would have to move up some in round two to get him, because he has great upside, and is a complete DE prospect, who can stay on the field on passing downs. Check out his highlights at http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/specials/draft/2007/video/
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