Denver Broncos: A.J. Johnson a very intriguing pickup
The Denver Broncos signed former All-American and All-SEC linebacker A.J. Johnson, who hasn’t played football since 2014. This could be a very solid move…
The last time newly signed Denver Broncos linebacker A.J. Johnson played football was in November 2014 when he was a member of the Tennessee Volunteers program.
One of the most prolific tacklers in the history of the Tennessee program, the former NCAA Freshman All-American and three-time All-SEC selection found himself without a future in the NFL after being accused of rape in 2014.
Johnson was immediately suspended from the Tennessee football team and wasn’t drafted in 2015 when he likely would have been a day two or three pick.
Nearly four years after his football playing career seemed to be over, Johnson has been given a second chance.
Now that he’s been proven innocent after being falsely accused, Johnson’s once massive potential is again rising to the surface.
For four seasons at Tennessee, he was a model of durability and consistency and racked up tackles unlike just about any other player in college football at the time.
Had he not been suspended at the end of the 2014 season, he likely would have more tackles over the course of his college career than even Josey Jewell, another four-year starter in college.
Johnson’s size at 6-foot-2, 255 pounds makes him a very unique type of inside linebacker. His obvious strength in college was in attacking the line of scrimmage, but he showed he’s got some range and coverage ability at times, too.
He finished his Tennessee career with 30.5 tackles for loss, so he’s going to be hitting the A and B gaps with regularity in Denver.
As his football career was at least temporarily on hold, Johnson said he kept himself in shape by doing MMA and personal training.
He made a comment after his not guilty verdict came in that he ‘looks’ smaller but is actually up about 10 pounds from his playing weight at Tennessee of 245.
Four years ago, NFL.com’s Bucky Brooks and Daniel Jeremiah had a ‘scoop’ from an AFC West scout who was really impressed by Johnson in his senior season at Tennessee.
Perhaps that scout was someone on the Denver Broncos’ staff…
Brooks had another post that season talking about how scouts had been ‘enamored’ with Johnson, who elected to return to Tennessee for his senior season after receiving mid-round NFL Draft grades.
By all accounts, his stock was soaring above that mid-round grade and NFL teams were eager to see him work out.
Johnson had a 2015 Scouting Combine invitation rescinded, but the fact that he was invited is yet another indicator of how highly regarded he was in the NFL scouting community.
To top it all off, the Broncos gave Johnson a whopping $50,000 signing bonus, the highest given (more than double the next highest) to an undrafted rookie free agent since John Elway has been with the team.
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If he wasn’t given any other guaranteed money (it’s likely some of his base salary was also guaranteed since he had a number of suitors), that $50,000 guarantee would have ranked tied for eighth among all undrafted players this year, with the highest guarantee going to 49ers cornerback Tarvarus McFadden, who got a $20,000 signing bonus and $70,000 of his base salary fully guaranteed.
Johnson’s contract was a three-year deal and the Broncos are obviously very eager to see what he can do.