Ohio State’s Paris Johnson Jr. was Born to be the NFL’s Subsequent Nice Offensive Sort Out. The Ohio State College has a popularity as considered one of school soccer’s premier soccer factories. Not solely have they got an elite recruiting machine which is in a position to attract prime prospects to their program.
However, they’ve nice coaches. So it’s little surprise that OSU left sort out Paris Johnson Jr. is without doubt one of the highest-regarded sort out prospects within the 2023 NFL Draft.
Ohio State’s Paris Johnson Jr.
There are 64 beginning offensive sort out jobs within the NFL, however there’s additionally a fairly good argument that there aren’t 64 beginning offensive tackles within the NFL. Due to that, groups are continuously looking out for gamers who can lock down the sort out positions for the foreseeable future.
Longtime beginning offensive tackles are value their (appreciable) weight in gold for groups, and that’s mirrored of their free agent market. It’s additionally mirrored of their draft inventory in relation to the opposite positions on the offensive line.
In 2022, Johnson solidified his inventory by being named a consensus All-American and first-team All-Massive Ten. Let’s check out what makes Johnson one of many best sort out prospects.
What does Paris Johnson Jr. do nicely?
Paris Johnson’s upside pretty leaps off of the display screen when watching his tape.
Johnson appears to be like as if he was ordered out of a catalog at 6’6, 313 kilos, and with 36-inch arms. However along with having prototypical measurement and size for an offensive sort out, he has wonderful athleticism and motion abilities. He is ready to mirror and match athletic cross rushers out on the sting, or redirect again inside to seal the B-gap if essential.
Johnson has a really versatile decrease physique, permitting him to compensate for his peak and keep good leverage. He’s a pure knee bender who’s in a position to drop his hips and preserve his pads down with out lunging at defenders.
His leverage additionally helps to maximize his spectacular taking part in energy, as nicely. Johnson is ready to drive defenders off the ball, or torque and dig them out of gaps alongside the road of scrimmage.
Dimension, size, athleticism, energy, aggressive toughness, and run blocking are all strengths.
What are the weaknesses of Paris Johnson Jr.
For all of Johnson’s athletic upside, he has weaknesses that can maintain him again, a minimum of initially. Johnson struggles to constantly play with good approach. He has lengthy arms, however doesn’t constantly ship an excellent punch to defenders to disrupt their momentum and set up his block.
As an alternative, his arms are sometimes late, giving up his chest plate, permitting defenders to realize management of him, and compromising his spectacular taking part in energy. Whereas he has a size benefit over nearly any defender he’ll see, his late arms cancel out that benefit.
His arms additionally incessantly land outdoors of defenders’ framework and his arms are pressured to defenders’ shoulders, which might draw penalties on the NFL degree.
Johnson solely has two beginning seasons below his belt and solely a type of was at left sort out (with the opposite was at left guard). offensive line coach will work with Johnson to repair his approach points and enhance his hand utilization. Doing so will totally unlock his upside and make him an excellent starter at both sort out spot.
Paris Johnson Jr. Highlights
What are individuals saying about Paris Johnson Jr.?
Paris Johnson’s upside is tantalizing to say the least. His mix of measurement, athleticism, and expertise taking part in on the highest degree will get him drafted early within the first spherical. Right here’s what Lance Zierlein of NFL.com thinks of him,
“Lengthy, athletic sort out in want of extra approach work however possessing the traits to turn into a long-time starter on the left aspect. Johnson continues to be filling out his body and he ought to get stronger. He’s a lot better as a transfer blocker than man blocker however he can bridge that hole with extra teaching. He’s free and fast in cross safety however might want to add core energy and get higher with inside arms to forestall edge defenders from bypassing his anchor. Johnson’s athletic instruments and place versatility are advantageous however the going might be slightly bumpy early on earlier than he settles in.”
Paris Johnson Jr. won’t be the clear-cut prime offensive sort out within the draft proper now. There are a number of tackles in rivalry to be the primary one taken on the prime of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Nevertheless, Johnson has the upside to be one of the best to come back out of a really robust sort out class. Rocky rookie seasons aren’t unusual for offensive tackles, and PJohnson will possible be no totally different. However his potential is sky-high so long as he will get developed correctly.
