The 2025 NFL Draft is approaching and Will Johnson is one of the most athletic prospects in the class. This is a breakdown of how Johnson profiles for the NFL and where he could potentially land.
Will Johnson NFL Draft Profile
Physical Traits/College Film
As a six-foot-two, 192-pound cornerback with good body control, there’s a lot for NFL teams to love about Johnson. He’s a versatile player who can play tight as a coverage corner and also leverage his speed and size as a ball-hawk in zone coverage coming towards the quarterback. Johnson has an excellent feel for the game and can deliver huge, timely hits when needed, including in run coverage and pass-rush scenarios. He didn’t participate in any of the drills at last weekend’s Scouting Combine, and he suffered a season-ending injury in October, so there isn’t much recent tape on him for pro scouts to analyze. But with the right coaching, he could easily become a Pro Bowl talent.
On tape, his aggressiveness stands out, as his highlight reel includes several incredible interceptions where he’s already moving towards the ball before the quarterback even releases the throw, a trait that should translate well over to the next level. The issue is, he can be overly aggressive and can fall for double routes, and if he goes for a tackle and gets deked, he can easily find himself out of the play. Plus, while he’s fast as a ball-carrier, he can sometimes lack the burst and speed to recover from his mistakes. Two plays from his matchup against the Arizona Cardinals’ Marvin Harrison Jr. when they met in 2023 stand out: he jumped a route to notch an interception early in the game before being beaten for big yardage by overcommitting to an interception attempt later on. Whichever trait is more prominent in the NFL will determine his ceiling.
NFL Comparisons
Realistic Comp: Trevon Diggs – Like Johnson, Diggs was a ball-hawk at Alabama, an impressive blend of size, speed, and ball skills. For the Crimson Tide, he displayed excellent agility in speed and open space and was noted for jumping routes. However, he also had a tendency to get overly aggressive in pursuing interceptions and got beaten on double-moves, and he didn’t have the foot speed to recover, especially against pro-caliber receivers like Ja’Marr Chase. These traits have translated to the NFL, Diggs has been the ultimate boom-or-bust cornerback. In 2021, he led the league with 11 interceptions while still having the 39th-highest missed tackle percentage of 486 qualified cornerbacks. It’ll be a success if Johnson is able to produce the same kind of success in his first five seasons as Diggs had, even if the Dallas Cowboys star has dealt with several significant injuries.
Ceiling Comp: Patrick Surtain II – By no means am I expecting Johnson to make three Pro Bowls in his first four seasons and become the first cornerback in five seasons to win Defensive Player of the Year, like Surtain has. Surtain was a much more polished prospect coming out of Alabama than Johnson is. But he’s a similar size — six-foot-two and 208 pounds — has similarly excellent ball skills, and tended to jump routes even better than Johnson. However, he was also susceptible to giving players a little bit too much space on their routes sometimes and being overly aggressive at times, drawing unnecessary penalties. Johnson isn’t there yet, but with proper time and coaching, he could become an All-Pro cornerback at the next level.
Potential Landing Spots
These are the teams that are the most likely landing spots for Johnson, who’s most likely going to be picked somewhere in the middle of the first round:
Atlanta Falcons – The Falcons could use help at virtually every position except for running back and quarterback, so Johnson could make some sense, especially given that if Atlanta wants to claim the division, it’ll have to slow down future Hall of Famer Mike Evans and potentially Chris Godwin and Luther Burden III. Former All-Pro corner AJ Terrell hasn’t quite been as good the past few seasons as he was in 2021 — when he earned his All-Pro nod, and both Clark Phillips and Mike Hughes are undersized, even if they were productive in 2024. Adding more size and aggression can help combat Evans, who’s six-foot-five and has elite high-pointing skills.
San Francisco 49ers – Among the many things that went wrong for San Francisco in 2024, it fell from first in interceptions in 2023 to just a tie for 21st last season, and opponents torched its secondary for a high completion percentage and 25 touchdown passes. Plus, veteran Charvarius Ward, who had a brutal season as after making an All-Pro team in 2023, is a pending free agent. After a likely contract extension to quarterback Brock Purdy, the 49ers won’t have a ton of money to bring in a top playmaker, and with their top competition for the NFC West — the Los Angeles Rams — having an elite wide receiver in Puka Nacua, Johnson could make some sense with the 11th overall selection.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers – If Johnson falls all the way to the 19th overall pick — which is looking increasingly likely, given the lack of recent tape on him and his boom-or-bust potential — it would be a massive steal for Tampa Bay, which really struggled in the secondary last season. The Buccaneers allowed the sixth-most yards to opposing wide receivers in 2024, as well as the 10th-most touchdowns and has questionable secondary depth after Jamel Dean. Tampa Bay also has very little cap space and desperately needs cost-controlled talent if it wants to maximize its chances at another Super Bowl before Evans retires.
Jacksonville Jaguars – With the Jaguars in the market for virtually every position besides quarterback and wide receiver, it’s unlikely that they’d go all-in for a boom-or-bust cornerback with the fifth overall pick, but since every team I’ve discussed so far is picking in the back half of the first round, let’s go with a team that might be confident in Johnson’s ability to mitigate his flaws in Anthony Campanile’s defensive scheme. Jacksonville gave up the third-most receiving yards in the league last season and conceded the fourth-worst efficiency, and it also intercepted the third-fewest passes, so it desperately needs secondary help. Johnson’s big-play ability could be the difference in an eminently-winnable division.
