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RB Kerryon Johnson, Free Agent (2 Viewers)

Ilov80s said:
I really don't see the Bell comp at all. He looks like a 1st and 2nd down back that can pound tough yards. 
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https://youtu.be/zx54PFMOgcs

Start right around the 1 minute mark and watch that hesitation at the line of scrimmage and his acceleration once he chooses a lane. Whether nfl teams will want him to run like that or try to get him to unlearn it and run more decisively/ stop dancing, I don't know. But he definitely patterns himself after bell. 

 
Stupid real life is taking up all my time and I haven’t been able to watch much tape. Just starting to get to Kerryon. My early impressions...

Cons: First, I think he gets over excited at times and that’s when you see him start to hop. These hops are terrible because he’s not making anything happen, he loses all momentum and both his feet come of the ground so if he wants to burst he’s a half second behind. The other big negative to me is the way he tries to drive through piles. He squares his shoulders up (making himself bigger) and leans way to far forward. When he does this off of one of his hops it’s even worse. I would say as a “negative” is that he doesn’t use his blockers enough. He more of a reactive runner that a setup type, which can be fine, but he goes as far as to run by a lineman and try to make a move on a defender. It works a lot of the time though so I don’t want to knock him too much for that. I’m not if this is part of the reaction type of runner thing but I did notice that he tends to miss runs to the outside at times. You’ll see the defense completely collapse to the inside and it looks like there’s a nice opening to the outside that he just doesn’t see because he’s already committed to dive run. This isn’t a major concern if that’s his choice but if he’s just not seeing it then it’s a bit of an issue. I still prefer a guy who is in an inside to out runner vs the opposite. 

Pros: His pass pro is pretty nice. It’s not perfect but it’s better than most college backs. The Bama was a good demonstration. He missed one on Minkah but the rest of his attempts looked good. I haven’t seen a whole bunch of his pass catching but he looks fine. He seems like a special athlete and I think the small amount of routes that most backs run I’d think that he should be fine/good enough to be a 3 down back when you consider he has decent pass pro. He runs a high (usually a big knock) but because of his style and agility I actually like it. Since he keeps his legs moving so much he’s able to slip out of those low legs tackles but still be solid enough to lower a shoulder and deflect a high hit. 

Overall: I really like this guy and think he is being over looked. Maybe I haven’t watched enough to find why people aren’t higher on him yet but this guy has the makings of a stud to me. Setting up blocks (or lack there of) is my biggest issue with him but that’s something that I think can be taught. I haven’t watched as enough to separate the top end backs this year but Kerryon is definitely in that top end mix. 

 
Where does this guy stand in the big 8 running backs?  I've seen him as high as third and as low as eighth or even outside the top 8. Does it all depends on landing spot?

 
As a Steeler fan, I agree somewhat with the Bell comp.  KJ reminded me, and a few of my football watching buddies of Le'veon.

I actually think he would be a nice 2nd rd pick for the Steelers.

 
steelcityman said:
As a Steeler fan, I agree somewhat with the Bell comp.  KJ reminded me, and a few of my football watching buddies of Le'veon.

I actually think he would be a nice 2nd rd pick for the Steelers.
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I like Johnson but I put freeman as the bell comp, coming from an MSU fan (tough times ahead). All of these backs could produce given the right situation. Someone will pull a Derrick Henry situation and be a role player in a timeshare. KJ can do a bit of everything and has the size to hold up, so he could work out. 

 
bostonfred said:
Where does this guy stand in the big 8 running backs?  I've seen him as high as third and as low as eighth or even outside the top 8. Does it all depends on landing spot?
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I could make an argument for him being 3rd. The problem is that I like the other guys too. So, if I rank them ahead of KJ then it makes it seems like he’s “not even a top 5 back in his class”. I wouldn’t worry as much about fluctuations in rankings for this draft class.

I would say there’s probably 2 NFL first round backs and 4 second round backs. Then a pair of backs I’d give a third round grade but could expect them to likely out perform that. That’s a ton of talent. 

 
I'm not on his bandwagon nor do I absolutely hate him, but these are the guys that kind of find their way and become something.  Maybe it's due to the lower expectations I have set up for him, but he's kind of a sneaky guy that I could see surprising.  

 
bostonfred said:
Where does this guy stand in the big 8 running backs?  I've seen him as high as third and as low as eighth or even outside the top 8. Does it all depends on landing spot?
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I think both he and RoJo are underrated this year.  Sony (thanks to Kamara) overrated and Royce is junk.

For me Barkley and Guice are the clear top 2.  After that Chubb, Rojo, and Johnson are in a similar tier.  Maybe Sony sneaks in the back of there to for me (though I realize he is much higher in the consensus).

 
FreeBaGeL said:
I think both he and RoJo are underrated this year.  Sony (thanks to Kamara) overrated and Royce is junk.

For me Barkley and Guice are the clear top 2.  After that Chubb, Rojo, and Johnson are in a similar tier.  Maybe Sony sneaks in the back of there to for me (though I realize he is much higher in the consensus).
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No Penny?

 
Borden said:
No Penny?
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Whoops forgot to mention him.  Probably in that Chubb/Rojo/Johnson tier for me as well but near or at the back of it.

Bottom line, regarding where Kerryon fits in, I think he should be in the lump of all the next guys rather than several tiers below like the consensus has him.  I have all of those guys pretty close.

 
FreeBaGeL said:
Whoops forgot to mention him.  Probably in that Chubb/Rojo/Johnson tier for me as well but near or at the back of it.

Bottom line, regarding where Kerryon fits in, I think he should be in the lump of all the next guys rather than several tiers below like the consensus has him.  I have all of those guys pretty close.
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I’m basically the same. That next tier is Chubb/KJ/Penny then for me swap Jones with Sony. But I have Jones the same as you have Sony, in that maybe he should be in that tier.

 
@Faust

What do you think of Kerryon? You started a thread for him in November instead of just lumping him in with the Prospects page. 

 
@Borden - there is a lot of characteristics that KJ has in his game that will translate well to the NFL, and I think he can be a three down back.  

With the great depth in the RB class, I am having a hard time ranking KJ any higher than sixth or seventh overall at the position.

 
Borden said:
@Faust

What do you think of Kerryon? You started a thread for him in November instead of just lumping him in with the Prospects page. 
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There is much to like on this kid's RB talents... It's simply matter of what team he ends up on.  I'm targeting him in two of my bottom 6 of 1st round picks for PPR league due to the notwithstanding rookie WR depth this year. 

 
A pair of NFL scouts expressed concern over the build of Auburn RB Kerryon Johnson while speaking with Bob McGinn Football.

"Odd kind of build," said one scout of the 5-foot-11, 213-pound Johnson, adding, ""Long, leggy runner. He’s not really nifty and strong because of that body build." A second evaluator is of the belief that the Auburn product is "[j]ust not built like a traditional NFL running back. He makes a lot miss but he takes a lot of shots." That second scout believes that some of Johnson's past injury concerns -- a shoulder issue in 2017, hamstring issues in 2016 -- stem from his running style coupled with his stature.

Source: Bob McGinn Football 

Apr 24 - 2:14 PM
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Faust said:
A pair of NFL scouts expressed concern over the build of Auburn RB Kerryon Johnson while speaking with Bob McGinn Football.

"Odd kind of build," said one scout of the 5-foot-11, 213-pound Johnson, adding, ""Long, leggy runner. He’s not really nifty and strong because of that body build." A second evaluator is of the belief that the Auburn product is "[j]ust not built like a traditional NFL running back. He makes a lot miss but he takes a lot of shots." That second scout believes that some of Johnson's past injury concerns -- a shoulder issue in 2017, hamstring issues in 2016 -- stem from his running style coupled with his stature.

Source: Bob McGinn Football 

Apr 24 - 2:14 PM
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He does seem a bit upright and top heavy.  I prefer RBs to be compact and squat, with the bulk of their weight in their thighs rather than their chest/shoulders like Kerryon's.

 
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FreeBaGeL said:
He does seem a bit upright and top heavy.  I prefer RBs to be compact and squat, with the bulk of their weight in their thighs rather than their chest/shoulders like Kerryon's.
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I like kJ but I’ve said elsewhere his body looks funny, as in not the normal build for a rb. It’s like he has really long limbs. I don’t know if this is good or bad. I have him ranked in a tier with freeman, ballage, and Justin Jackson, although JJ can be had later. I took freeman over him in a draft at 1.12, and he ended up going 2.04.  I picked 2.05 and would have taken him over Gallup (my pick), but rb was a need on that team. 

 
Lions traded up with the Patriots to select Auburn RB Kerryon Johnson with the No. 43 overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft.

The Lions add to a backfield that Ameer Abdullah has proven incapable of leading. Johnson (6’0/213) turned pro as a true junior after making 19 starts in the Tigers’ backfield, logging a career 519/2,494/32 rushing line at only 4.8 yards per carry with 55 receptions. He earned 2017 SEC Offensive Player of the Year with 1,585 yards from scrimmage and 20 all-purpose TDs. A tall-ish, upright runner, Johnson drew pre-draft comparisons ranging from Le’Veon Bell to Darren McFadden. Johnson did show well in Indy with 69th-percentile SPARQ results and ran 4.54/4.49 at Auburn’s Pro Day. A good athlete with plus size and versatility, Johnson isn’t a dynamic runner but has some starter-caliber traits.

Apr 27 - 7:58 PM
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I don't get it. This is about as good of a situation that a rookie RB could walk into. It was discussed as such all off-season.

The discussion around him sounds like people that disliked him in the first place but now can get specific about it.

 
Andy Dufresne said:
I don't get it. This is about as good of a situation that a rookie RB could walk into. It was discussed as such all off-season.

The discussion around him sounds like people that disliked him in the first place but now can get specific about it.
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Agreed...I am pretty high on him right now...he just fell into one of the better spots a rookie RB could have fallen into this offseason...he has a legit opportunity to be a work-horse RB with a decent Detroit team...Riddick is what he is and Abdullah has had multiple chances to grab this job and has proven he is not up to the task...I saw Johnson play plenty last year and I saw a highly productive RB playing against high-end college competition...if Detroit is willing to use a reasonably high #2 on him IMO that means they are going to give him every opportunity to be their lead back... 

 
Boston said:
Agreed...I am pretty high on him right now...he just fell into one of the better spots a rookie RB could have fallen into this offseason...he has a legit opportunity to be a work-horse RB with a decent Detroit team...Riddick is what he is and Abdullah has had multiple chances to grab this job and has proven he is not up to the task...I saw Johnson play plenty last year and I saw a highly productive RB playing against high-end college competition...if Detroit is willing to use a reasonably high #2 on him IMO that means they are going to give him every opportunity to be their lead back... 
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Maybe...they also signed blount in the offseason, so you may have to temper expectations for a year. 

 
It is fine for fantasy football, I was just mad as a Lions fan watching them trade up for a RB in round 2. I hope he is good. I liked what I saw in college, he could ball but he also seemed to get hurt every other play. 

 
Raging weasel said:
Was sure it was Guice they we're moving up to get which would have been great, this not so much.
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There were other teams which drafted other RBs before Guice despite being higher ranked by most pen-jockey experts.   Johnson seems to be a heck of a ball player and the Lions were afraid a missing out on a top tier prospect in their top needed skill position as that position was getting heavily picked over.    Maybe the NFL scouts have a better view of these players.  It was a bit of a surprise pick, but still very optimistic about Johnson.  

 
Snorkelson said:
Maybe...they also signed blount in the offseason, so you may have to temper expectations for a year. 
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Blount is a solid role-player...if he handles goal-line duties it could hurt Johnson at least short-term...that being said if Johnson is legit I think he should turn into a productive #2 fantasy back...he has a great opportunity here...especially from a dynasty standpoint...

 
Ilov80s said:
It is fine for fantasy football, I was just mad as a Lions fan watching them trade up for a RB in round 2. I hope he is good. I liked what I saw in college, he could ball but he also seemed to get hurt every other play. 
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That is an interesting take...as an outsider I would think you would like them being aggressive at that position since it has become such a black hole...I think Stanford has turned into a quality QB and if they can finally can legit production at RB that opposing defenses have to take seriously it only makes Stafford’s life easier...

 
jon_mx said:
There were other teams which drafted other RBs before Guice despite being higher ranked by most pen-jockey experts.   Johnson seems to be a heck of a ball player and the Lions were afraid a missing out on a top tier prospect in their top needed skill position as that position was getting heavily picked over.    Maybe the NFL scouts have a better view of these players.  It was a bit of a surprise pick, but still very optimistic about Johnson.  
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I think everyone was pretty clear that Guice was falling due to character concerns. The Lion absolutely have a type. They want serious professionals only. 

 
Boston said:
That is an interesting take...as an outsider I would think you would like them being aggressive at that position since it has become such a black hole...I think Stanford has turned into a quality QB and if they can finally can legit production at RB that opposing defenses have to take seriously it only makes Stafford’s life easier...
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Maybe, the draft universe seemed pretty unimpressed with Kerryon. And to trade up- Was that necessary? The Lions need help on defense so badly and they don't touch the defensive side of the ball with either of their first 2 picks. 

 
Kerryon looks to be a potential deal in fantasy. I just listened to the Rotoworld draft recap. They went over every guy drafted and their fantasy impact. When they got to Kerryon, they said he wasn't worth discussing. 

 
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