{"id":264629,"date":"2026-02-06T11:30:04","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T16:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=264629"},"modified":"2026-02-06T10:51:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T15:51:10","slug":"chris-johnson-2026-nfl-draft-scouting-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/02\/06\/chris-johnson-2026-nfl-draft-scouting-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Chris Johnson 2026 NFL Draft Scouting Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NFL Draft is headlined by names from major programs every year. Conferences like the Big Ten<\/a> and SEC<\/a> tend to have more players selected than other conferences. While premier prospects from the Group of Five are far and few between, there are gems every year. Sauce Gardner<\/a>, Quinyon Mitchell<\/a>, and Ashton Jeanty<\/a> went from mid-major standouts to blue-chip NFL players. San Diego State cornerback Chris Johnson has a case as the best Group of Five prospect in the 2026 NFL Draft. He’s been incredibly productive throughout his collegiate career and can make an impact in many ways. His talent is evident, but how does he stack up in a deep 2026 cornerback class?<\/p>\n

2026 NFL Draft: Chris Johnson Scouting Report<\/h2>\n

Measurables<\/h3>\n

Height- 6-foot<\/p>\n

Weight- 195 pounds<\/p>\n

Position-Cornerback<\/p>\n

School-San Diego State<\/p>\n

More 2026 NFL Draft Profiles<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Background<\/h3>\n

Johnson was overlooked as a high school prospect. He was a three-star recruit coming out of Eleanor Roosevelt (California) and the 136th-ranked cornerback in the Class of 2022<\/a>. Johnson appeared in 12 games as a true freshman, logging six tackles. His role in the Aztecs’ defense expanded in 2023, and he showed glimpses of an elite cornerback. He finished his sophomore campaign with 30 tackles, an interception, a pass breakup, and a forced fumble. Johnson took another leap forward in 2024, as he racked up 67 tackles, three forced fumbles, four pass breakups, and an interception. After steadily improving over his first three seasons, Johnson put it all together for a stellar 2025. In 11 games, he had four interceptions, two pick-sixes, nine pass breakups, and 49 tackles<\/a>. Johnson posted a 91.6 PFF grade<\/a> in 2025, good for the second-best among all cornerbacks.<\/p>\n

Strengths<\/h3>\n

The first thing that jumps out with Johnson is his proven production. He has 146 tackles and six interceptions over the past three seasons. His ball skills are incredible, showing good hands and an ability to punch the ball out when targeted. Johnson’s discipline is remarkable, as he doesn’t bite on double moves and remains steady in man coverage. He mirrors pass catchers well and displays the instincts to jump routes. While he excels in coverage, Johnson is also a willing run defender. His tackling is reliable, with a career missed-tackle rate of just 5.4%. Johnson also brings value on special teams, and is a player who can contribute in a multitude of ways.<\/p>\n

Weaknesses<\/h3>\n

While Johnson has many positives to his game, there are a few downsides. His frame is on the smaller side for a cornerback, measuring 195 pounds. This can raise concerns about facing bigger NFL wide receivers in press coverage. Johnson also doesn’t have elite top-end speed, so he may struggle to carry wide receivers vertically in coverage. He faced weaker competition in college relative to the other top cornerback prospects in this class. It will be interesting to see how he translates from the Mountain West to the NFL.<\/p>\n

Overview<\/h3>\n

Johnson is an incredibly refined player who’s proven his status as an elite cornerback prospect. His combination of discipline, ball skills, and tackling gives him a high floor at the next level. While his raw athletic tools aren’t elite, he is a player who can be a game-changer at any given moment. There’s always a little bit of concern when it comes to mid-major prospects, but recent history has shown that top Group of Five prospects can easily transition to the NFL. Johnson currently projects as a second-round pick, but has a chance to hear his name called late in the first round. The Rams<\/a> and Seahawks<\/a> are excellent fits; both could add more depth at corner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chris Johnson is arguably the best Group of Five prospect in the 2026 NFL Draft. How does the San Diego State CB stack up in a deep class?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5581,"featured_media":264724,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,1647,33760],"tags":[2908],"class_list":["post-264629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-nfl-draft","category-profiles","tag-chris-johnson"],"modified_by":"Sue Levine","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5581"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264629"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":264718,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264629\/revisions\/264718"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}