seeing a lot of Jaylon Johnson in mock drafts going 1st round

[rbmw263]

I want it for him so bad. 

[Tony (admin)]

That would be some great PR for the Utes. 

[rbmw263]

Somewhat possible we get 3 guys gone in the first 2 rds with Burgess Moss and Jaylon. That would be a first in school history and a big step. Closest we came to that is 2 guys in the late 2nd and a 3rd rounder. (Rowe, Orchard, Poutasi)

[CincyUte]

Am I the only one who read that and immediately thought of “Jayce” Johnson?  I was like . . . whaaaaaat?

[Tony (admin)]

Riiiight.

[rbmw263]

you are definitel the only one

[D T]

Yeah, what a recruiting tool JJ’s story is as a 4 star recruit, who’s now a college graduate after 3 years, to boot.

[Utah]

Clark Phillips came to Utah because of this. Three years, degree, first round pick. Johnson is living every 16 year old’s dream. 

Phillips wants to be the next one. 

[rbmw263]

with Utahs “does more with less” than anybody else in the country (re: recruiting rankings/draft picks) coaches have obviously been pitching “what could we do with more” to their top recruit targets for years. Now they dont have to say “what if” and can show them a relevant and recent example of what actually happened when they landed a top 100 guy who could have gone anywhere

Obviously, Jaylon deserves all of the credit. He would have been great wherever he went. But what the coaches can pass on to recruits is

a) legitimacy to their claims of early playing time. If your 4/5 star level ability and athleticism shows it translates to college you WILL play. Player keeps a lot more control of that here, compared to blue blood x with 4 4/5 star underclassment in their position group who all have athleticism/ability with the margins between their strengths/weaknesses already small on top of being apples to oranges. More players with both athleticism and skill level, and smaller the margin, the more power given up to situational/subjectivity and effective randomness. Especially for top 100 recruits; that margin will be a lot bigger here. Which means less guess work for a coaching staff that has an A+ talent eval track record. ie more control for the player

 

b) Your draft stock will not be lower here than any more “visible” school. The top 5 Cornerbacks in this draft, per PFF, are from Ohio State, Florida, LSU, Clemson, and Jaylon Johnson. The NFL doesnt get tape from ESPN and dont base evaluations on the amount of views on your highlights on Youtube. You’ll have more tape to show and from a longer period to show development. For example, Jaylons frosh tape showed early round ability, but the 2nd and 3rd year you saw the development in his IQ and film study. You also saw him take the largest role in an extremely aggressive defensive scheme. Following WR1 around and being put on an island. And you saw this in a large number of reps. Not flashed potential in a highlight pass breakup on a deep ball. Thats why PFF considers him to have the highest floor of any CB in the class 

Its easy to say all this stuff, but its different to back it with substance. Its especiallly different when that substance is Jaylon f**king Johnson

[rbmw263]

tidbit from a pro football focus article on Jaylon..

“There is a real, and growing, sense that Johnson could be the second or third cornerback off the board at the tail-end of the first round. Considering he has one of the highest floors in this draft class, as said in the PFF Draft Guide, it wouldn’t be a surprise nor would it be a bad idea to take Johnson within the first 25 picks of the draft”

[rbmw263]

also notes that a quarter of attempts thrown at Jaylon were vertical routes (makes sense given his super aggressive press style), and even with playing those short/quick routes aggresssively, he allowed 2 open targets on 46 attempts(!), with 7 completions.

He was targeted 63 times playing press man coverage. 28 of them were 10+ yards downfield and only 2 times the WR got separation. Thats a wild stat. He also allowed the 2nd lowest explosive play rate in man coverage. Playing press but not getting beat deep. Not allowing big plays ever. Winning football