Overview
Position: Offensive Guard
Height: 6‘5”
Weight: 315 pounds
School: Pittsburgh Panthers
Combine Performance Data
40-yard dash: 5.27 seconds
Bench press: 21 reps
Vertical jump: 30 inches (fifth among offensive linemen)
Broad jump: 9 feet, 6 inches (second among offensive linemen)
Three-cone drill: 8.39 seconds
20-yard shuttle: 5.09 seconds
Dorian Johnson 2017 NFL Draft Profile
Pittsburgh’s Dorian Johnson is one of the top prospects at guard in this year’s NFL Draft. Offensive guards, however do not generally get selected very high in the draft. There may be one that goes in the first round and if there were two it would be an impressive year for guards. Although Johnson may be selected anywhere from the second round to the fourth round, he has the skill set to make an impact and perhaps even crack a starting lineup as a rookie in the NFL.
A Pennsylvania native, Johnson was a five star recruit and the second highest rated offensive tackle in the country coming out of high school. He played in the majority of the Panthers’ games as a freshman firmly implanting himself as the starter at left guard by the end of the year. He would hold that position over the next three years starting 40 consecutive games, being named All-ACC twice and All-American as a senior.
Johnson is an excellent run blocker who plays with good leverage. He has the strength and desire to drive defenders down field. He has some edge to him and will play through the whistle. He does however need to learn to use his hands more and his shoulder less when run blocking. He gets up to the linebacker very quickly, and when he makes clean contact with the backer, he quickly eliminates him from the play. Unfortunately, he will sometimes be out of control at backer depth and whiff. He is very skilled at skip pulling, getting around another lineman while staying square to become a lead blocker.
Johnson has some struggles with pass protection. Any kind of movement throws him off, whether it is a single defender crossing his face, or a more elaborate line stunt. He does however put the priority on protecting his inside gap, thus eliminating the defenders shortest path to the quarterback.
Strengths
- strong, drives defenders down field;
- plays fierce, nasty;
- great effort, plays through the whistle;
- athletic, does a great job of getting up to the linebacker;
- can hinge and skip pull smoothly and effortlessly;
- plays with good leverage.
Weaknesses
- sometimes gets to the second level too fast and is out of control;
- uses his shoulder to block rather than his hands too often;
- pass blocking overall will need to improve;
- struggles when the defensive tackle crosses his face in one-on-one pass rush situations;
- looks lost at times when the defensive line stunts;
- gets tripped up more often than you’d like him to.
NFL Comparison: Kevin Zeitler or Steve Hutchinson
Teams with Need at Position: Minnesota Vikings, Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals, Los Angeles Chargers, New England Patriots, New York Jets, Seattle Seahawks
Projection: Second or third round
Bottom Line:
Dorian Johnson is a big, physical, athletic player with the tools to be a successful offensive guard in the NFL. He is very skilled as a run blocker particularly pulling and would be a great fit for a team that runs a lot of down scheme plays such as power and counter or teams that like to put their guards out in space on toss plays. He struggles at times in pass protection, and might be better off as a right guard rather than left guard as he played in college. Given that guards are not generally drafted very high, he could be a steal for someone if he is put into the right situation.
