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Roschon Johnson: 6’2”, 225 pounds.
A four-star recruit in 2019, Roschon Johnson’s production throughout his career with the Longhorns (during which he was stuck behind a tremendous talent in Bijan Robinson mostly) was very steady.
Across his four seasons in Texas, he averaged 112 touches per year for 652 yards and 6.5 touchdowns. Now he’s looking to become more of a featured option at the next level, with little track on his tires but plenty of talent.
Roschon Johnson scout report: Strengths
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+ Very mature runner, who stays true to concepts and makes his blockers look good by leading box defenders to where they’re expected to be.
+ Light on his feet and has more wiggle than you’d expect for a guy with legit power back size.
+ Patiently strings out lateral schemes and allows blockers to lead up in the hole before he kicks into full gear.
+ Can slow his feet effectively in tight areas without taking away his own momentum, but also drop his base and come to a full stop in a moment’s notice when needed.
+ Efficiently integrates jump-starts and jump-stops on the fly as he’s processing information.
+ Presses combo-blocks with square shoulders and navigates around them very effectively, without any excessive footwork.
+ Bends his path exceptionally well and seems to gain speed almost better than if he’s just going straight a lot of times. For a big guy, his burst around the corner when edge defenders cheat inside catches defenses by surprise.
+ Drops and pulls his pads through contact to grind out those tough yards between the tackles.
+ Running a 4.58 in the 40 at the combine may not look great on the surface, but Johnson’s 1.52 ten-yard split was right on par with former teammate Bijan Robinson (tied for third-best among RBs).
+ His 32-inch arms are freakishly long at six-foot even and uses them very well to push off defenders with a stiff-arm.
+ It also helps him to touch down or just use it as a tool to get back to balance after stumbling.
+ Will dish out a pretty nasty dead-leg move against safeties racing down too hard in order to make them whiff.
+ Shows one of the most graceful spin moves, despite being a taller guy, to regain his balance without losing speed and to work off contact effectively.
+ Runs with an incredible level of determination overall. He constantly churns his legs and twists his body to grind out extra yardage through contact, rarely gets dragged down and pushes the ball five-plus yards with regularity.
+ You love the way he pulls his knees up and frequently picks his feet out of the grasp of attempted tackles. He forced an insane 46 missed tackles on just 94 carries this past season.
+ Has generated some important first downs after having the ball flipped to him at the last moment as a check-down option.
+ Doesn’t waste any time getting upfield after the catch and is ready to drop the pads on some poor DB.
+ With how light Johnson is on his feet, he also effectively slides in front of rushers as a pass-protector and is able to guide them off track with regularity when they get around him.
+ Was originally recruited as a quarterback. While he only attempted two passes in his collegiate career, he was regularly deployed as the guy taking the snap from wildcat sets with Bijan Robinson. The very few times he did drop back, he looked like a guy with balanced feet and who could make something happen if plays weren’t there.
Roschon Johnson scout report: Weaknesses
– Does present a larger surface area with more of an upright running style.
– His speed may not allow him to clear holes as consistently at the next level and he won’t take plays to the house by burning angles a whole lot.
– Not a creative player in the open field. You don’t see him flat-out making defenders miss one-on-one and some teams may look at him as just an early-down runner.
– His value in the passing game is a real question mark, not catching more than 14 passes since his freshman year and dropping five of 61 catchable targets in his career.
Roschon Johnson scout report: Grade
Roschon Johnson was one of the more pleasant surprises of this entire class to me. You see those backups come in fresh and hit some big plays later in games, but when you really sit down and watch the film, you realize that not many backs would’ve keep this kid off the field as much (unless it truly is an elite talent like Bijan Robinson).
Other than UCLA’s Zach Charbonnet, you could argue that Johnson is as good a power-back as we have coming out this year. He’s much more light-footed than a lot of the plodding bruisers you typically associate with that description, but when it’s time to drop the pads, he will bring the thunder.
Roschon Johnson showed some legit juice during the first day of Senior Bowl week, but then had to miss the rest with an injury. Otherwise, his stock would probably be even higher now.
Grade: Top-100 overall
You might also like other 2023 NFL Draft Scouting Reports - Zach Charbonnet, RB, UCLA, Bijan Robinson, RB, Texas, Eric Gray RB, Oklahoma, Jahmyr Gibbs, RB, Alabama, Zach Evans, RB, Ole Miss, Tyjae Spears, RB, Tulane.
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