OT Paris Johnson Jr. is ALREADY living up to the hype: Cardinals Film Breakdown
In this film breakdown, we take a look at Arizona Cardinals rookie RT Paris Johnson Jr., the 6th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
So far, Paris Johnson Jr. has absolutely been worth the 6th pick, as he is already showing great ability on the offensive line. He is aggressive, athletic, and delivers the blow under control, which is crucial for a young lineman. The Arizona Cardinals have done a great job getting him out in space and using that athleticism to their advantage, however, he's also been really solid on the line.
Arizona Cardinals RT Paris Johnson Jr. Film Breakdown
Disclaimer: The following is a transcript of a YouTube video titled “OT Paris Johnson Jr. is ALREADY Living up to the Hype: Cardinals Film Breakdown” The content is for informational purposes only and was originally presented in video format.
Johnson was the first offensive lineman taken in the 2023 draft and he looks like he was absolutely worth the 6 overall pick. He's been a mauling run blocker, only allowing two pressures on 73 pass blocking snaps in his first time playing right tackle.
He was a right guard as a sophomore and his junior year he played left tackle. So the fact that he's already playing at a high level when he's transitioning to NFL competition and a new position is even more impressive. Johnson is really a complete run blocker, but he's at his best on the move.
He has shined when blocking linebackers and DBs in open space, and the Cardinals have done a good job so far of putting him in those favorable situations. This first play, they're gonna fake split zone left to James Conner and throw a screen to Rondale Moore.
Michael Wilson makes a nice block on this press corner, and Paris Johnson just eliminates Adoree' Jackson. What's impressive about this play is not only his speed to get downfield, but the body control to adjust his path as his target changes directions. A lot of times big and fast offensive linemen will look great with their initial acceleration and they'll be able to get to their landmark, but at the point of contact they don't have the quick movement skills to latch on and they end up whiffing on blocks.
With Paris Johnson he can turn on the jets and cover a lot of ground, but he's also flexible enough to land his hands inside and finish the block when the defender's trying to shake him. Another really nice play design from week one, they go orbit motion with Rondale Moore, fake the handoff to James Conner and roll out to the left. So this looks like a keeper, but they're doing all this to set up the throwback screen to the other side of the field.
Paris Johnson gets his hands on the linebackers, stays attached and drives them to the sideline. Now Dobbs needs to get rid of this ball earlier because by the time James Conner gets it, the effect of the fake is kind of worn off and the defense is recovering. But the Cardinals ball carriers need to start trusting Paris Johnson and let him make them right instead of cutting back into the traffic.
Just assume that Paris Johnson's gonna win his block and run behind him. Next play again the result isn't good but for Paris Johnson individually, this is outstanding technique. They're running a play action jailbreak screen, and there's two blocks you gotta hit. Paris Johnson's blocking the nickel, and Michael Wilson has the corner.
Johnson's expecting Kamren Curl here to widen out so his initial path is a little bit outside, but Curl sees this and tries to undercut the block, and Johnson's so quick to react and stick out the backside catch hand, and then he stays attached and puts him on the ground. If you had good blocking from the receiver, then Marquise Brown would be able to hit the open space outside, but Michael Wilson whiffs and Brown has to avoid the tackle.
Right here, the Cardinals are running pin pull, so the tight end's gonna pin the in man, and Paris Johnson pulls to Xavier McKinney. He still needs to get more accurate with his initial punch, and that applies to pass blocking as well, but he's great at replacing his punch throughout the rep and still maintaining his footwork. So he's trying to get his outside hand on the chest plate, but he gets the helmet for a second.
Probably could have been a penalty if the ref had laser vision. But good job replacing his hands inside and continuing to drive his legs and widen out that gap. And then one more good rep on the move. They're running GT power with the guard and tackle pulling across the formation. Great double team from the right side to get displacement on the 3 tech and move him downfield.
Paris Johnson and Will Hernandez clear out the traffic and James Conner runs with patience and waits for his blocks to develop. So it's great to see Arizona featuring Paris Johnson as a run blocker and getting him on the move, but he's also really powerful on down blocks and inside zone where he isn't taking more than a couple steps. It's just raw power moving people off the line of scrimmage.
This is a good example of maintaining his hand placement as the defender's shifting positions. The defensive end starts out trying to swim outside, but Johnson gets his left hand on the chest plate. So all of this moving around doesn't matter because his hand's inside and he has control of the interaction. Once he picks a side and extends to make the tackle, Johnson just carries him to the ground with his momentum.
I really only saw one bad rep as a run blocker. He's working this double team on Deron Payne and he leads with his head. Payne reacts quickly and swims over the top and makes a play in the backfield. So Paris Johnson needs to go into this block with his head up so he's ready to counter any slant or movement to the outside. And when you're leaning forward like this, it just creates an easy opening for the swim move.
His pass blocking has actually been similar to the run blocking, where there's really only one bad play from the first two games. He has really smooth pass sets, but he doesn't have to wingspan at all to carry speed-rushers up the arc. so he's done a great job using his hands to do so.
Right here, Washington's running an ET stunt. You can see the slide quickness to not allow any penetration through the B gap he keeps himself at the same level vertically as the right guard so he can pass him off cleanly. Hernandez needs to be quicker to slide over here and then his head's up anticipating a looper and he picks up Deron Payne.
Sweat's able to get the strip sack from the other side, but this is a great rep from Paris Johnson. Again, you see the slide quickness right here. This is one of my favorite things about Paris Johnson as a prospect is his ability to mirror inside movement. A lot of tackles just aren't light enough on their feet to take an angle set and leave all this space in the B gap.
But then slide over and seal it off when the Pass Rusher slants inside. Right here, Montez Sweat is using a stutter swipe where he stutters inside, swipes the outside hand on the outside wrist, and then he was probably gonna try to rip or swim around the outside shoulder. And Paris Johnson uses a lot of independent hand strikes, which means he's punching with one hand and keeping the other hand free.
So he punches with the outside hand, Sweat immediately swipes that down, but Paris Johnson hasn't lunged or overextended at all; so he pulls back the inside hand to protect against a counter, then he replaces his punch with a two hand strike. He gets both hands inside and some chip help from the back, and throughout the entire rep his feet never get stuck. I'm focusing a lot on the hand usage, but ultimately none of that matters if you stop moving your feet and try to lean into the block.
So he does a great job with his hands, but he's mirroring with his feet and keeping his body in between the pass rusher and the quarterback. Playing with independent hands like this is a much safer way to pass block than using a two hand punch, which is kind of all or nothing. He almost always starts with an outside hand strike, right here, Boogie Basham is gonna double swipe and rip. Johnson punches with the outside hand to draw out Basham's move and then pulls it back with two hand punches.
If Johnson led with both hands here, Broom's protecting his frame, so he would just swipe them aside and rip through. But starting with this bait punch gets Basham into his move and creates space for Johnson to get his hands inside. You'd like him to get a little more depth here to protect the corner. Basham has the ability to bend around at the last second, but still a really good job with his hands.
The only loss I saw in Pass Pro wasn't even that bad, he won the first 90% of the rep. He's blocking Montez Sweat and does a good job splitting the rusher in half and working inside out. He's protecting against the slant inside, and then he gets the outside hand on the chest.
Again, I'm really impressed with his ability to multitask, even if he doesn't land that first punch cleanly, he keeps his feet moving while he replaces his hands, so it's not like he misses his punch and the rep's over.He holds up for exactly four seconds, which in my opinion is doing your job as a pass protector, but Dobbs holds onto the ball and Sweat is able to work around the outside shoulder and get the sack.
PFF charted this as a coverage sack, and I'd probably agree with that. You want Paris Johnson to maintain his footwork throughout the play instead of latching on and letting sweat dictate where he moves, but if this is your worst rep after two games against good competition, I think you'd definitely take that.
So everything Paris Johnson has shown over the first two weeks should have you really excited if you're a Cardinals fan. He's gonna have some rough plays here and there, that's just how it is with rookie offensive tackles, and it's definitely too early to say whether or not he's a hit, but he looks like he belongs in the NFL.
If you like this video, then be sure to check out more NFL and college football film breakdowns on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Twitter!