Northern Iowa RB David Johnson NFL Draft Scouting Notebook

The 2015 NFL Draft class of running backs is incredibly exciting, and absolutely loaded with depth. Northern Iowa’s David Johnson, a participant in the Senior Bowl, is a great reminder of that.

As an Iowa Hawkeyes fan, it was a bit tough to turn on the tape of Johnson absolutely shredding the Hawkeyes, but also a great reminder of the versatility he brings to the table as an NFL prospect and where he can really help someone right away.

Johnson is a 6-1, 224 pound back who is as impressive looking as his listed measurable. He is big, fast, and can be used in a variety of ways. I wanted to re-visit the tape to see exactly what Johnson brings to the table as an NFL player, and how his game translates to the next level.

What you notice immediately about Johnson is his ability to catch passes and run after the catch. Not many young running backs are this strong of receivers out of the backfield, but Johnson is absolutely pro-ready in that regard. He is such a natural pass catcher but a major mismatch for linebackers as well. He shows strong route running ability and in the Iowa  tape, you can see he absolutely abuses the inside linebacker when he sneaks out of the backfield on a few passing plays.

The UNI offense was not tailored for a running back to be showcased for an NFL team, but he was able to do some really good things over the last four years, including three straight thousand yard seasons. UNI runs a spread, four-wide offense and Johnson is typically lined up at a 45 degree angle behind the quarterback. It’s not a look you’re going to see in the pros very often.

The thing that scouts don’t like about Johnson is his lack of short-area quickness, which I agree with. He has a really nice lateral jump-cut and good deep speed, but I want to see more out of him in the short-area running game, where he wasn’t really utilized a lot in college at least where the line was coached into a power blocking scheme. You can tell on film there are not many plays where Johnson has great running lanes, though he doesn’t really seem to be making something out of nothing all the time either.

The other thing that concerns me about Johnson is that he runs very upright at times, which significantly limits his ability to churn for additional yardage and be a tough, physical runner on the inside.

For me, Johnson is not unlike Roy Helu Jr. He is built with an impressive looking frame, has great speed over a long distance, but doesn’t really look like a full-time runner in the NFL despite great success at the collegiate level. I think Johnson can be a great second or third back in someone’s system that can eat up 12-15 carries per game, catch four or five passes, and return kicks. He is so physically gifted, that you want to find ways to get him involved.

As he evolves as a player, I see his ceiling as a guy who can contribute as a running back, H-back, returner, slot receiver, and even split out wide as a receiver if called upon. He isn’t a superstar caliber player I don’t think, but he’s a heck of an all-around player with as much upside as a coach is willing to use him.