Quindell Johnson 2023 NFL Draft profile: Scout report for the Memphis SAF

Quindell Johnson, Memphis: 6’0”, 200 pounds; RS SR.

A three-star recruit in 2018, Quindell Johnson decided to redshirt that year. He entered the starting lineup midway through the following season and didn’t leave the lineup ever since. He was named second-team All-AAC in 2020 and ’21, before rising to first-team this past season.

Across his career (49 games), he racked up 320 total tackles (226 solo), 15.5 of those for loss, ten interceptions, 24 PBUs, four fumbles forced and three more recovered.

Quindell Johnson scout report: Strengths

Quindell Johnson reacts after a play

+ Smooth, fluid athlete, who was used pretty evenly between deep safety, slot and in the box for his career with the Tigers.

+ Put together four productive seasons as a starter with Memphis, with PFF grades between 72.0 and 83.2 in each of those, put together by pretty even numbers across the different categories.

+ Processes the game and fulfills his assignments at a high level, with excellent instincts for the position.

+ Showcases expanded peripheral vision to decipher through passing pattern and doesn’t allow the quarterback’s eyes to move him off his landmarks.

+ Was deployed in a lot of deep middle and halves coverage, where he consistently stayed deeper than the deepest and showed an understanding of how to play between routes effectively.

+ Even when he’s playing center-fielder, Quindell Johnson knowing where the biggest receiving threat is, he will peak that way and be ready to affect the catch point.

+ Consistent with his angles from depth to stop completions for minimal yardage – Held opposing receivers to just 4.5 yards after the catch on average last season.

+ These past two seasons he was assigned with man-coverage duties more regularly and held slot receivers in check pretty well.

+ Understands who he’s facing and doesn’t prematurely open his hips a whole lot.

+ Reads the hips of receivers well to anticipate when breaks are coming and then dislodges the ball to great effect when raking through the catch point.

+ With 33-inch arms and a solid frame he projects pretty well as somebody matching up with tight-ends for extended stretches.

+ Generally excels at wrapping around the target and making a play on the ball, but also works well through the hands when he has to play with his back to the ball.

+ His coverage numbers last season were excellent, as QBs went 32-of-54 when targeting him for 399 yards and two touchdowns, compared to four INTs and six more incompletions forced (resulting in a passer rating allowed of just 63.7).

+ Called the “heartbeat” of the defense by his coaches at Memphis, thanks in part to his physicality and the way he would attack against the run.

+ From two-high alignments, Johnson maintains outside leverage, being in position to wrap up the ball-carrier if he cuts behind the last man on the edge, but also shooting inside if he sees that guy gets vertical.

+ When walking down pre-snap, he can confidently fill the C-gap and attack backs low in the hole for defensive stops.

+ There are plays where Johnson snuffs out reverses and running back screens and runs them down all the way across the field for limited yardage.

+ Has done a great job for most of his career to break down in space and secure tackles one-on-one against dynamic receivers.

+ Yet he also understands when to cut off an angle and chop down guys at their legs.

+ Even when he’s engaged with a blocker or has to work around traffic, Quindell Johnson effectively shoots through the hips of ball-carriers and gets them to the ground on an angle.

Quindell Johnson scout report: Weaknesses

– Not super explosive or snappy in his hips, to range out to throws outside his area.

– Has to be rather conservative with his angles from depth, because he doesn’t quite trust his speed to hang with the legit game-breakers.

– Quindell Johnson's missed tackle number sky-rocketed this past season from around the 10 percent range to missing 18 of 95 attempts (18.9%), overstriding the target and slipping off guys with his arms.

– When he misses the jam in press-man, Johnson has a tough time getting back into phase without the recovery burst to close that gap.

– Tends to arrive a little bit early at the target and will be flagged more regularly for it at the next level.

Quindell Johnson scout report: Grade

I have talked about Quindell Johnson as one of my favorite sleepers in this class, because while he isn’t a perfect prospect, the fact he’s currently projected to be one of the first guys to not get drafted is wild to me.

He doesn’t have great explosive traits or long speed to project well for an extensive center-fielding role or as a matchup-agnostic slot defender, but his tape is way too good to ignore. The way he processes the game, anticipating and confirming information, the ability to make plays on the ball and work up the alley effectively in the run game are all definite positives.

What really bothered me last season was the increase in terms of missed tackles, but I’m banking on him returning to his prior form, where that was actually a strong-suit of his games.

Quindell Johnson’s not the lightest, most fluid athlete I’ve ever seen at safety, but running a 4.53 at his pro day is good enough for me. Because he clicks quicker, he gets to where he needs to go quicker than guys who are faster on track, but don’t possess his football acumen.

Grade: Fourth round

You might like other 2023 NFL Draft Scouting Reports: Tyree Wilson (EDGE), Texas Tech; Will Anderson Jr. (EDGE), Alabama; Jaxon Smith-Njigba (WR), Ohio; Zay Flowers (WR), Boston; Jordan Addison (WR), USC; Jordan Addison (WR), USC; Quentin Johnston (WR), TCU; Zach Charbonnet (RB), UCLA; Bijan Robinson (RB), Texas.

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