Saw this pop up on twitter....
http://rotoviz.com/index.php/2013/03/is-this-man-the-next-miles-austin-or-marques-colston/ (link for pretty pictures and easier to reach charts of breakdown with other players)
IS THIS MAN THE NEXT MILES AUSTIN OR MARQUES COLSTON? By:
Jon Moore Follow Jon Moore on Twitter
Every few years a player comes out of nowhere to take the NFL by storm. It’s become a fact of NFL life. Consider Kurt Warner, Antonio Gates, Vincent Jackson, Victor Cruz, Miles Austin, and Marques Colston; one minute they’re as anonymous as the clerk at your local grocery store, the next minute they are plastered on TVs across the country. The question isn’t whether or not it will happen again. The question is, “where will the next guy come from?”
Here’s a guess: Elsmere, Kentucky.
That is the hometown of 2013 wide receiver prospect Charles Johnson. Over the last few years, Johnson has been difficult to track, both on the field and off. After his high school playing days in Elsmere, he spent a year at Eastern Kentucky before getting suspended and transferring to Antelope Valley Community College in California. He ended up at Grand Valley State in Michigan and has done nothing but dominate for the last two seasons. (GVSU was the proving grounds for Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly and Tennessee’s Butch Jones).
We’ll get to the production in a second. The real reason Johnson landed on anyone’s radar was his pro-day where he skyrocketed (literally) into elite company. If you combine his Vertical Jump and his Broad Jump numbers, you get 172.5”. Fewer than 8% of wide receivers eclipse the 170” figure and even fewer do it at 6’2’’ and in the 215-225lb range. Consider this rarified class of historical freaks:
Player Name - Ht - Wt - 40 - Bench - Vjump - Bjump - Explosion - Shuttle - 3cone - Agility
Julio Jones - 74.8 - 220 - 4.34 - 17 - 38.5 - 135 - 173.5 - 4.25 - 6.66 - 10.91
Charles Johnson - 74 - 215 - 4.38 - 14 - 39.5 - 133 - 172.5 - 4.31 - 6.96 - 11.27
Stephen Hill - 76 -215 - 4.28 - 14 - 134 - 39.5 - 133 - 172.5 - 4.48 - 6.88 - 11.36
You don’t need me to tell you how good Julio or Dez are. They’ll probably be among the first five wide receivers drafted in your fantasy football league. In case you’re curious about Stephen Hill, I’ll point you to
this article about his likelihood of following in the footsteps of fellow Georgia Tech wide receivers Calvin Johnson and Demaryius Thomas. But back to Johnson—HOLY COW! What an impressive workout! But what if I told you that his production was equally amazing? Consider how he stacks up to other wide receivers that came from similarly obscure college teams:
Player - College - selection - team - Ht - Wt - MS Yards - MS TD - Rec TD - ypc
VJackson - N.CO - 61 - SD - 76.8 - 241 - 56.1% - 84.6% - 11 - 17.3
CJohnson - GVSt - ?? - tba - 74 - 215 - 42.5% - 57.1% - 16 - 16.7
Miles Austin - Monm - UND - 74.1 - 215 - 41.7% - 52.4% - 11 - 13.9
*MS= Market Share of teams total yards or touchdowns
V-Jax, Miles Austin, and Marques Colston have all posted elite seasons in the NFL. As
you can read here, I think Brian Quick will soon join that class of premium receivers. So the only riddle left to solve is Grand Valley State WR Charles Johnson.
I was so intrigued by his workout that I actually visited the GVSU website to watch game recap highlights. On at least two occassions he showed ball skills that left my jaw on the floor, in addition to the many other ‘good’ catches. He certainly passes the eye test.
Johnson is a physical freak and a dominant producer. The third, and maybe most critical, piece of the equation is where he will get drafted. Yes, it would seem that a troubled past landed him in Allendale, Michigan rather than SEC country, but given his measurables, don’t you think somebody will take a chance on him? If and when that happens, Johnson will move near the top of my rookies-to-watch list. The ingredients are there. All he needs is a chance. See and believe…
