Before you get all, “We need to build this team from the inside out and we need to focus on the trenches,” yeah, I know that. This blog is about adding a player that I really like and think not could be but will be a steal. Wide receiver isn’t a unit of need as compared to others. But like any position, you can’t have enough good players. Tyler Johnson is a very good player and I’d love to see him in a Dolphins’ uniform.
WARNING: Long blog ahead.
We’re less than two weeks away from the NFL Draft and I think you can say this is the most anticipated draft possibly ever. It has three big-time quarterbacks, all that have legit question marks as to if they’re going to be guys who are still leading teams in six years. You have OUR Miami Dolphins who essentially control the entire draft with their picks who have let it be known that they can do whatever they want whenever they want.
Oh, and this draft us all extra thirsty due to everyone being on a form of lockdown where sports haven’t been consumed in a month. The draft will be the first real sports event that hasn’t fully been canceled. It’s not going to be in Vegas so we’re going to miss Goodell getting booed and guys sweating in the green room. But at this point, I’ll forgo those things to see something in sports go as planned.
The Dolphins have 14 picks throughout the draft, six which are in the first three rounds. They, currently, have three in the first round, two in the second and one third. Is it possible that it will change on draft night? Yes, it’s very possible. It’s no secret that Miami has a rose waiting for either Burrow or Tua (notice there are only two names there) and to get one of those guys it’s likely going to take some maneuvering up the board. It means don’t bank on Miami sitting at five.
That being said, Tyler Johnson is a guy I thoroughly want the Dolphins to explore. As I said, the Dolphins have offensive line issues to address. I’m all for shoring those up. But if I’m there in one of the later rounds, Tyler Johnson is a guy I’m looking to add.
Pros
I had no idea who Tyler Johnson was until he played Penn State this past year. Being a Nittany Lion, I entered that game thinking they would get past Minnesota. They got trucked and PSU lost. During that game, there was Tyler Johnson just having his way with the Lions’ defense. I mean, he had them on skates and was wide the eff open all the time. It’s not like the Gophers had a stout running game or quarterback who was elite either. Johnson looked like he was on another level the whole game. That was pretty much the entire season for Johnson. He had 86 catches for 1,318 yards and 13 TDs. Those numbers were up but not that much from the previous season. So, he’s not just a one-hit-wonder.
He’s 6’2″, 205 LBs and doesn’t run super fast. At Minnesota, he lined up on the outside and the slot but I feel he will be best inside the numbers. Johnson is willing to go over the middle to make catches in traffic and runs a crisp slant route. That’s important because there’s a signal-caller in the draft that the Dolphins have sort of had their eye on who throws a great slant route. He’s got solid enough hands. You won’t confuse his hands for Larry Fitzgerald, but it’s not like he’s Nelson Agholor either.
Actually (and this is probably going to really infuriate some) Johnson’s game reminds me of a poor man’s Jarvis Landry. Landry wasn’t anywhere near fast, but he made up for it with crisp route running and a fearless approach. It seemed like Landry loved nothing more than to think he was Christain Okoye and seek out contact when he had the ball. Landry also had a shiftiness to him that I always enjoyed. He had moves and made guys whiff often. It was like watching Steve Nash play. He wasn’t big, fast or strong but he was still able to get by guys. That’s how it felt when I watched Landry run with the ball. I think Tyler Johnson has some of those traits.
Cons
Now, you can’t talk about Tyler Johnson without talking about how he’s handled his career post-Minnesota. It’s been a bit odd. He didn’t get an invite to the Senior Bowl so he committed to the Shrine Bowl. Then he, strangely, pulled himself out of that.
I'm told #Minnesota WR Tyler Johnson elected to pull out of the Shrine Game.
— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) January 14, 2020
Nothing injury related. Just focused on his training for the Combine. https://t.co/D7zAm11cbV
Then things got even more bizarre when it was time for the NFL combine;
Plan for former #Gophers WR Tyler Johnson in Indianapolis this week: positional drills, interviews with teams, and medical testing. He’ll wait to run the 40 on March 25 at Pro Day. Idea is to nail it, date doesn’t matter. This way gives him another month to work on it.
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) February 23, 2020
For a guy who’s being looked at as a late-round pick looking butthurt because you didn’t get an invitation to the Senior Bowl, to taking yourself out of another chance to showcase your skills followed up by not running the 40 is, admittedly, a weird move. We know you’re not very fast and when you do run it, we’re still going to know that. With everything that’s going on in the world, it’s a bit difficult to know how Johnson did at his pro day. What I’ve been able to dig up is that Johnson looked fine and smooth. Take that for what it’s worth. Go look at his tape for a better picture.
Johnson has addressed the strangeness of his decision making:
“I’m still learning, still adjusting, to all the different techniques that these types of tests require. I feel like on March 25 on my Pro Day is when I’m gonna be best, when I’m gonna feel most comfortable. I feel like I’m getting better day in and day out. As long as I’m better than I was yesterday then I’m progressing. I feel like whenever you feel like there’s pressure on you, that’s when you go out there and fail. So, me being comfortable, me being stress-free is going to be very important throughout this process.”
It seems like if Tyler could go back in time and do things differently, he would. Chalk it up to a young guy doing dumb things. Hopefully, he understands that and has better advice given to him in the future. Also, let’s not confuse Johnson’s handling of his workouts as if he has off the field issues. This isn’t a Tyreek Hill situation so don’t be a doofus and compare them.
The 2020 NFL receiver class is probably the deepest receiver class of all time. You can possibly see six receivers taken in the first round. That’s wild. You know the usual suspects of Lamb, Jeudy, Ruggs, Higgins, Jefferson will be taken in round one. After those guys, there are excellent receivers still out there. In a regular draft, Tyler Johnson would be thought of as a late second early third kind of guy. That’s not the case this year. The Dolphins have the chance to use a late-round pick, possibly a fifth to get a guy I think will be the truth.
#FreeGesicki
The last time I felt this strongly about a guy was two years ago with Mike Gesicki. I wanted him real bad not because we both have Lion’s blood pumping through our veins but because he was exactly what Miami needed. He figured some things out in the second half of last year and looks like a guy who can be counted on as a real difference-maker for years to come.
The Core
Miami, currently, has a high octane receiver core. With DeVante Parker staying healthy and showing the rest of league just who the hell he is and undrafted receiver Preston Williams showing that everyone was really dumb to pass on him, Miami has their outside receivers, seemingly, set. Inside, Miami still has Albert Wilson on the roster. He hasn’t been a cap causality yet and I hope he remains on the team next season. When Wilson got fully healthy at the end of last year, he starting clicking with Ryan Fitzpatrick. I’d like to see that again. Then you have Allen Hurns, who Miami signed to a two-year extension in the middle of last year who did his job when given the chance. After him, you have Jakeem Grant and Isaiah Ford. You get the feeling that only one of those guys will be here next year.
It looks like a very crowded receiver’s room. It looks that way because it is. How would a guy like Tyler Johnson be able to fit in? Not sure, but sports has shown plenty of times that unheralded young guys show up out of nowhere. Is it possible that some combination of Hurns, Grant, Wilson, and Ford are elsewhere next season? It’s very possible because it’s sports. Rarely do things happen the way it looks like it should especially in April.
In 12 days, I hope the Dolphins have their quarterback of the future and their offensive line figured out heading into day three of the draft. Let Miami take a flier on a guy that I strongly feel can do wonderful things in this league. Draft Tyler Johnson and have an even more stacked receiving core. Yeah, lets do that.
