NFL Draft Profile: Aron Johnson, Offensive Lineman, South Dakota State Jackrabbits

#71
Pos: OL
Ht: 6060
Wt: 300
DOB: 
Eligible: 2022
Chisago Lakes, MN
Chisago City

Aron Johnson
South Dakota State Jackrabbits

Pros:

Cope: Aron Johnson was a consistent producer for the Jackrabbits, helping his team secure the top seed in the FCS playoffs and the Missouri Valley Conference title. He has experience playing both right and left tackle, and enters the 2021 season already with 34 game appearances. Johnson helped form the physical identity of the South Dakota State offensive line. He already has the body and appearance of an NFL tackle. In the run game, Johnson is extremely strong at the point of attack. He moves 3-techniques off the line of scrimmage and steps into scraping defenders really well. He looks to finish defenders in the turf and imposes his size on defenders. Johnson moves laterally fairly well and utilizes his size to seal backside defenders effectively. In the passing game, Johnson absorbs the blitz with ease and mitigates the momentum of the oncoming rusher. The tackle has strong hands that latch onto the defender. Johnson plays with a calmness that is reassuring, and he can handle a variety of pass scheme techniques and sets.

Cons:

Cope: An unfortunate symptom of Johnson’s size is very average feet. Johnson moves with heavy steps and seems unable to change directions quickly. In pass protection, the tackle’s feet pause when his upper body contacts the defender. He tends to bail on his kick slide when the defender challenges the edge, which seems like the ideal way to beat Johnson during drop-back passes. Johnson’s pass sets are short and decently explosive, however, his kick slide leads to him having a very wide base where he loses some of his power. The Jackrabbit tackle has a forward lean when kick sliding that edge defenders look to exploit. When he punches, his hands usually land in a strong contact position, but his elbows extend outwards rather than stay inside. Johnson loses power and control over rushers when this happens.

Summary:

Cope: Johnson possesses great power, strength, and the right kind of nasty to his game. Unfortunately, Johnson has an unrefined lower-half, especially in the passing game. His feet leave something to be desired when engaged in extended drops. Edge defenders that utilize speed and bend are able to round the edge on the South Dakota tackle. Johnson is a very intriguing prospect for the NFL. If he can build upon his strong foundation, he can absolutely be a successive NFL athlete. I would expect Johnson to play primarily on the right at the next level until he shows that he possesses the agility to handle NFL edge rushers. 

One-Liners

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