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While being a football and track star in his hometown in Indiana, Lonnie Johnson joined a community college initially before sitting a year to work on his academics.
When he arrived in Lexington, the Kentucky coaches were so impressed that they inserted him into the starting lineup for their last five games. Last year, he was the number one corner for the Wildcats, intercepting one pass and breaking up another four, while taking on the opposing team's best receiver constantly.
At more than 6’2” with 32 ½-inch arms, Johnson improved his draft stock by just showing up for Senior Bowl measurements. He really made scouts go back to the film with a highly impressive week, going up against all kinds of top receivers from around the country.
Johnson’s speed at 4.52 is perfectly fine at 213 pounds. He is extremely physical, pushing guys into the sideline and landing stabs on receivers off the line. Johnson primarily lined up on the boundary side against the opposing team’s single receiver.
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He definitely has the length to disrupt those guys at the point of the catch or rip the ball out late. After he does so, he lets his opponents know, constantly talking trash.
Johnson watches the hips of receivers and you rarely see him lose a step on guys once he turns those hips to run downfield with them. Combine that length with a 38-inch vertical and you have a guy who can actually make those 50-50 balls more than an even proposition in the defense’s favour.
Usually, Johnson races up quickly against run plays and quick screens, trying to shut them down right away. He shows flashes of being a violent hitter from the cornerback spot and punches at the ball when he has a chance to. Johnson made an incredible leaping interception with full extension versus Penn State in the Citrus Bowl which was one of his highlights.
Unfortunately, that was his lone career INT and that lack of production is a little concerning for some teams. At times, Johnson is content with just throwing a shoulder into the tackle and has guys bouncing off those hits.
His contain responsibilities will lapse every once in a while. Johnson completely whiffs on some punch attempts in press and definitely needs some coaching in that area, considering the rest of him is made to play that role.
He is certainly not the smoothest when it comes to transitions and you see a significant hitch when he decides to drive on the ball in off-coverage, surrendering too many easy underneath completions.
With his ability to get physical with the receivers in one-on-ones and stay on their hip throughout the development of routes, Johnson is a highly intriguing prospect. He really boosted his draft stock with his performance down in Mobile and he put up some pretty good numbers at the combine for a big corner.
He is far from a finished product, but the upside is immense if you can refine his technique in press. Apparently, there are some scouts around the league that think Johnson could end up being the top corner from this draft a couple of years from now.
Grade: Mid-Second
