Jermaine Johnson  – Last Chance U to FSU

Measurables

UNIVERSITY- Florida St.  AGE-      CLASS- SR+

HEIGHT- 6’4 ⅜ “      WEIGHT- 259             ARM LENGTH- 34 ⅜”

40 Time- 3 CONE- VERTICAL- BROAD JUMP-  BENCH PRESS-

Overview

Jermaine Johnson played his high school ball at Eden Prairie High School in Minnesota. Coming out of high school in 2017 though he only had a 1.9 gpa which won’t get you a scholarship for any division 1 program. He decided to continue his football dream and work his way back up to the power-5 ranks of college football. Doing so he spent the 2017 and 2018 seasons playing for JUCO Independence Community College in Minnesota. He finished his career there playing 20 games with a total of 96 tackles, 19 TFL, 12.5 sacks, 4 FF, and 4 FR. His impact led to him being ranked the 3rd best JUCO prospect nationally where he then transferred to the University of Georgia. As a Bulldog in 2019 Johnson played in all 14 games(1 start) and finished with 20 tackles, 3 TFL, 2.5 sacks, and 1 FF. In 2020 he appeared in 7 of the 10 games Georgia played, starting in 3 of them. In his final season at Georgia he tallied 16 tackles, and 4 sacks. I would assume in an attempt to get out of the crowded DL room that was filled with stars at Georgia, Jermaine decides to transfer over to Florida State. In his first and only year with the program (2021) he won the bet he made on himself. Johnson finished with 70 tackles, 18 TFL, 12 sacks, 2 FF, 2 PBUs and 1 scoop and score (on a play where he got a strip sack vs Clemson). This earned him ACC Defensive Player of the Year, First-Team All-America honors for many publications, First-Team All-ACC, as well as being named as a finalist for the Ted Hendricks Award, and semi-finalists for both the Bednarik and the Lombardi Award. He was invited to the Reese’s Senior Bowl down in Mobile, where he was noted as being among the most impressive in his time there in the week of practice.

Strengths 

Jermaine is a long edge defender. He has long arms and long legs. As a rusher he uses his length to get his hands on offensive tackles before they can get into his body. Johnson benefits from a well-timed get off for he doesn’t have explosive quickness. His long strides as a rusher help him cover ground in a hurry if you can’t slow his momentum down. Despite his lack of elite athleticism he does show a good ability to bend around the corner for his size. The best attribute for Jermaine is his strength and developed use of his hands. He shows a strong lower body base to hold his own in the run game, setting the edge. He takes on blockers extremely well, uses great leverage and arm extension to effectively shed blocks in the run game. Tight-ends can’t block him in the run game, tackles struggle and he has success getting around guards as well. He shows good awareness for what the offense is trying to do in the run game as he quickly diagnoses plays. He shows decent short area burst at times to close to a ball carrier and when he makes contact it is felt. As a pass rusher he shows a multitude of moves and it’s really exciting to watch. You saw Jermaine effectively use a swim move, a quick chop-rip, club move, a strong arm or stab move, you even saw him throw a nice spin move on tape a few times. If he’s able to get a timing on your snap, your offensive tackle is on an island with a guy who can create a lot of problems. Given his explosive numbers at the combine, I’ve concluded that he just improved his get-off throughout the season and he is truly explosive off the line. He became unstoppable when he started to get rolling in a few games I watched (it’s a shame the FSU secondary was in shambles). He was also able to do it from the left or the right side of the defense, in a 3-point stance or 2. I look at a guy who can be an impact player day 1 as an edge run defender with a good amount of potential to develop into a good pass rusher. Seemed like he played with a good amount of energy and possesses some dawg in him as well.

Weaknesses/Room for Improvement

He isn’t the most explosive off the line for an edge rusher but is able to make up for it with long strides at times. correction, he was slow off the line at the beginning of the season but he improved later in the year. He doesn’t have the get off to win with speed alone but he is pretty explosive for his size. He shows good bend, not elite bend around the corner. He doesn’t have the athleticism needed to consistently chase plays down the line of scrimmage and has average long speed. Jermaine doesn’t show great agility to make 1-on-1 tackles out in space. He showed some ability to string pass rush moves together but he could improve in that category. Johnson would benefit from adding an inside counter move to his game. On rushes where he didn’t get a good jump off the snap, it was hard for him to recover and make an impact. He could be more effective as an edge setter on plays that were ran outside the tackles. I felt he was more effective at shedding blocks and making an impact on plays that went inside or right towards his gap. When fatigue set in his play did as well, I would label him more as a good rotational pass rusher in the NFL. There’s not really much to poke holes about in his game, Jermaine plays with excellent technique, and fantastic effort. The big question is will he have enough athletic ability to be an impact pass rusher. I believe he will be effective as a rusher in a rotation but will likely never be among the elite.

Scheme Fit

Far better as a 4-3 LDE I felt his get off was better from here but he could play OLB in a 3-4 if you have LBs or safeties who can make up for his lack of sideline to sideline ability.

Round Grade

Early Second Round, I wouldn’t be surprised if he went in the late first at all though. Given his post-season he has to be moved into the first round.