Raiders Draft: Another safety that can elevate the secondary at pick No. 38
The Las Vegas Raiders have a lot of problems they need fixing in terms of their roster. But, there isn't one bigger than the secondary, if you ask me. The offense needs some help, and the pass rush needs help, but the secondary is putrid, and they can fix it this off-season. There will be […]
The Las Vegas Raiders have a lot of problems they need fixing in terms of their roster. But, there isn't one bigger than the secondary, if you ask me. The offense needs some help, and the pass rush needs help, but the secondary is putrid, and they can fix it this off-season.
There will be some okay secondary players in the free-agency market. But, they have a chance to get some young guys with a lot of untapped potentials through the draft, even at pick 38.
This is one of the more talented draft classes in terms of secondary players that we have seen in a while. Past drafts have had some great guys at the top of the draft, but this one is deep when it comes to the combination of skill and potential.
Antonio Johnson, the safety from Texas A&M, is the 30th-ranked prospect in the draft by Pro Football Focus, and the second-best safety in the draft by their standards.
Johnson earned 81.6 and 87.4 overall grades in his two seasons as a starter per PFF and finished with a 79.7 coverage grade and an 83.7 run defense grade.
Johnson is one of the more versatile players in this draft, and you can see that when looking at his snap counts by alignment. Per PFF, he lined up as a cornerback 14 times, a defensive lineman 49 times, deep 110 times, in the box 128, and in the slot 280 times. He can really do it all on that side of the ball.
At 6'3' and 195 pounds he has great size to play the slot as well. But, in the NFL he will definitely be used in more than one place0
One of Johnson's biggest strengths is his physicality. He is extremely physical when shedding blocks and getting to the ball carrier, and he is one of the best pure tacklers in the draft.
His one potential problem in the league would be getting matched up with a receiver in man-press that is faster and bigger than him.
Other than that, he is one of the more solid prospects in the NFL and the Raiders should keep an eye on him.
Featured Image Via Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
