|BlackJesus| Posted April 27 Report Share Posted April 27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted April 27 Report Share Posted April 27 Johnson is a three-year starter with a notable blend of size, speed and length. He shoots his hands, stacks blockers and sets the edge against the run. Johnson closes well in pursuit and has the traits to make more of an impact rushing the passer in the NFL than he did at the college level. He has experience dropping into underneath coverage and moves well for his size. -- Steve Muench Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|BlackJesus| Posted April 27 Author Report Share Posted April 27 Long & Lean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|BlackJesus| Posted April 27 Author Report Share Posted April 27 Explosive & athletic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|BlackJesus| Posted April 27 Author Report Share Posted April 27 CEDRIC JOHNSON MISSISSIPPI EDGE Prospect Info COLLEGE Mississippi HOMETOWN CLASS Mobile, AL Senior HEIGHT 6’ 3’’ WEIGHT 260 lbs ARM 33 1/2’’ HAND 9 7/8’’ Overview Johnson passes the eyeball test with flying colors, and there will be teams who gravitate toward his NFL body type and play strength. With that said, his tape fails to consistently hit the mark. He's strong at the point of attack and will set firm edges but needs to become more intent on ridding himself of blockers and making more plays. As a rusher, he has strong hands and some tools to work with, but he needs to develop go-to moves and counters and attack the pocket with greater urgency. Johnson has upside but might never be more than a solid edge backup if his rush doesn't improve. Strengths Built like an NFL edge, with broad shoulders and thickly muscled legs. Sets firm edges with leveraged knee bend and powerful, jolting punch. Can play through contact and maintain a steady base beneath him. Lower-body power to sink and counteract redirect blocks as a rusher. Has potential to become a much better bull rusher with work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|BlackJesus| Posted April 27 Author Report Share Posted April 27 Cedric Johnson EDGE, MISS Height: 6-3, Weight: 265 Stocky defensive end with dynamic flashes. Love his swipe move, just wished he utilized it more frequently. Powerful player who has to be coached up on how to utilize his length better to keep blockers off him. Ascending rusher. I like this pick. (Chris Trapasso) Summary Cedric Johnson is a stocky, thick defensive end prospect with plus explosive traits, although he doesn't quite play to his testing numbers. He doesn't utilize his hands nearly as often as he should, but he can shrug off blockers at times and has a very subtle/effective swipe in the arsenal. He mostly tries to win through the blocker with sheer force -- and without utilizing his length, which is average -- which won't work routinely in the NFL, although he's a powerful player. Bull-rush flashes are there, and he's a sturdy run defender. Would like to see the intensity cranked a bit more in the NFL. Not a bendy type. Ascending, relatively young edge rusher with the girth to be a three-down DE in the NFL and the burst/power combo to threaten professional OTs. About 2023: Led team with 5.5 sacks Career: Three-year starter Strengths Large EDGE with natural power Serious flashes of explosiveness Swipe move is real weapon Combine Data 40-yard dash: 4.63 seconds Bench press: 25 reps Vertical jump: 38 inches Broad jump: 10 feet, 2 inches Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelWeston Posted April 27 Report Share Posted April 27 14. CEDRIC JOHNSON | Ole Miss 6030 | 260 lbs. | 4SR Mobile, Ala. (Davidson) 9/6/2002 (age 21.64) #2 BACKGROUND: Cedric Johnson, the youngest of two boys, was raised in Mobile by his mother (Hope) and his father (Cephus Jr.), who served in the Marine Corps. Following in his older brother’s footsteps, Johnson started playing football at age 6, and it quickly became his go-to sport over basketball. With his compact frame, he mainly played running back throughout youth football. Johnson attended Davidson High School in Mobile ,where his older brother was the star quarterback during Johnson’s freshman season. After playing tight end as a sophomore, Johnson started dedicating himself to the weight room, and his coaches convinced him to move to defense for the first time in his career. As a junior, Johnson transitioned to a pass rusher role in Davidson’s 3-4 scheme and posted 35 tackles and 10.5 sacks, helping the team to a postseason appearance. As a senior, Davidson managed just three wins, but Johnson shined with 56 tackle s, 27 tackles for loss, 16 sacks, three forced fumbles and a 48-yard fumble recovery touchdown. A three-star recruit, Johnson was the No. 50 weakside defensive end in the 2020 recruiting class and the No. 37 recruit in Alabama. After his first season on defense as a junior, he received his firstscholarship offer (Tulane), followed by offers from South Alabama, Southern Miss and UAB. The summer before his senior year, Johnson attended an Ole Miss camp and received his first SEC offer. He committed to former coach Matt Luke in June 2019. John son later added an offer from Tennessee, but his home-state schools (Alabama and Auburn) never offered. Luke was fired after the 2019 season, and Lane Kiffin was hired to replace him, but Johnson never wavered and signed early. He was the No. 14 recruit in Kiffin’s first class in Oxford. His older brother (Cephus III) played quarterback at South Alabama (2017-19) and Southeast Louisiana (2020-22) before going undrafted in the 2023 NFL Draft (signed with the Minnesota Vikings as a wide receiver and spent the 2023 season on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ practice squad). Johnson opted out of the 2023 bowl game and accepted his invitation to the 2024 Senior Bowl. YEAR (GP/GS) TKLS TFL SACK FF PD INT NOTES 2020: (10/0) 7 3.0 3.0 0 0 0 Pandemic-shortened season; Enrolled in August 2020 2021: (13/11) 33 8.0 6.5 1 1 0 2022: (11/8) 32 4.5 4.0 0 0 0 Blocked punt; Missed two games (shoulder) 2023: (12/10) 40 6.5 5.5 1 3 0 Led team in sacks; Missed bowl game (opt-out) Total: (46/29) 112 22.0 19.0 2 4 0 HT WT HAND ARM WING 40-YD 20-YD 10-YD VJ BJ SS 3C BP COMBINE 6030 260 9 7/8 33 1/2 79 3/8 4.63 2.70 1.60 38 10’2” - - 25 (no shuttle or 3-cone — choice) PRO DAY 6031 261 9 7/8 33 80 3/8 - - - - - 4.36 7.45 - (shuttles and position drills only – choice) STRENGTHS: Sports the athletic frame and length NFL teams desire on the edge … has done a nice job filling out (220 pounds as a high school senior) … gets off the ball with functional first-step burst … solid cornering skills because of his arc strides and body flexibility … active in hand-to-hand combat, using a variety of swats and swipes to knock down the reach of blockers … improved discipline on zone read and spill plays … has enough body strength to hold his ground in the run game … young for his class and still relatively new to the defensive side of the ball … named the 2023 Chucky Mullins Courage Award winner, which is given to the Ole Miss defensive player that embodies courage, leadership, perseverance and determination … didn’t play much special teams but blocked a pu nt in 2022. WEAKNESSES: Sporadic pass-rush strategy and late to adjust to set points and blocking scheme … too often finds himself deeper than the quarterback … needs to add more vinegar to his punch for speed-to-power conversions … had an offsides penalty vs. LSU in 2023, which was declined because quarterback Jayden Daniels chucked a downfield touchdown to Brian ThomasJr. … pad level tends to rise in the run game … gets caught leaning into blocks as an edge setter instead of locking out to separate … left too much tackle production on the field, because of wild breakdown mechanics … didn’t look comfortable in space when he dropped on tape … battled a shoulder injury for most of his junior season, missing a pair of games in 2022 … career bests in backfield production came his sophomore season. SUMMARY: A three-year starter, Johnson lined up as a hand-on-the-ground edge rusher in defensive coordinator Pete Golding’s hybrid fronts. Though he was an offensive skill player most of his life, he put himself on the NFL map with his backfield numbers as a sophomore — but his production was sporadic the past two seasons. He is inconsistent in timing the snap and doesn’t rush with dynamic elusiveness, but Johnson has NFL-quality movement skills to get around blockers and finish with the closing burst to seal the deal. Against the run, he has the body flexibility to wriggle free but needs to be more urgent with his hands to work off contact and more reliable breaking down to finish. Overall, Johnson is still learning how to build an efficient rush sequence, but he has interesting athletic tools, and an NFL team should be able to coach more out of him. Although he might never reach three-down-starter status, he can develop into a serviceable subpackage rusher. GRADE: 4th-5th Round Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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fluhartz Posted April 27 Report Share Posted April 27 I like this one.. if he can get it together could be a really good one.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|BlackJesus| Posted April 27 Author Report Share Posted April 27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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snarkster Posted April 27 Report Share Posted April 27 Meh. Passes the looks test, but where's the production/consistency. May make it on Teams. Don't see him as much of an upgrade over Jeff Gunter, IMO (much less anyone ahead of him)' C/G Beaux Limmer (picked right after him would've been a much better use of the pick. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|BlackJesus| Posted April 27 Author Report Share Posted April 27 - Bengals like SEC guys - He was projected to go in the 4th Rd (over drafting as I talked about) - Has great measurables and athleticism - He adds good depth on the edge and a cheap contract. - I like the potential of this one more than some of the other recent picks. Good value. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|BlackJesus| Posted April 27 Author Report Share Posted April 27 He's 260 lbs, but looks like a WR ... could easily add weight and get even bigger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|BlackJesus| Posted April 27 Author Report Share Posted April 27 38" vertical and 25 reps (only a few less than Jenkins) shows a freaky combination of burst and strength. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sois Posted April 27 Report Share Posted April 27 Can he play SLB at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texbengal Posted April 27 Report Share Posted April 27 Definitely a “traits” pick. Maybe the kinda guy they would redshirt/PS. Or ST. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Dub Posted April 27 Report Share Posted April 27 Just now, texbengal said: Definitely a “traits” pick. Maybe the kinda guy they would redshirt/PS. Or ST. Not as stacked as they were at DE & now with Trey complaining IDK.. Don't be surprised if he's in the rotation sooner than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snarkster Posted April 27 Report Share Posted April 27 36 minutes ago, BlackJesus said: - Bengals like SEC guys - He was projected to go in the 4th Rd (over drafting as I talked about) - Has great measurables and athleticism - He adds good depth on the edge and a cheap contract. - I like the potential of this one more than some of the other recent picks. Good value. Tarzan --> Jane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esjbh2 Posted April 27 Report Share Posted April 27 1 hour ago, BlackJesus said: That long neck reminds me of Michael Johnson, Bengals DE from several years back. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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alleycat Posted April 28 Report Share Posted April 28 I specifically looked for Johnson during the draft, and somehow missed him and thought he had already been drafted when I started suggesting late-round flyers at DE. There was some talk about him rising up boards late in the process. He has insane measurables, but also has a couple in particular that are so bad that it's probably what hurt him: his 3-Cone and SS. If anyone remembers the old Waldo formulas for edge rushers that I used to obsess about, I'm pretty sure he'd qualify as a Low-Risk 1 (Power) rusher. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparky151 Posted April 28 Report Share Posted April 28 Meh. He doesn't really look like an upgrade from Gunter. Evan Anderson as our 3rd DT would have been a better pick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jupiter Fan Posted April 28 Report Share Posted April 28 Yeah I was hoping for edge earlier but maybe play ST and work him in slow to the D? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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