Alexander Johnson
Perhaps last season’s most pleasant surprise, Alexander Johnson was terrific for the Broncos. Now, he can parlay that great season into an even better one and put his name on the map in terms of the NFL’s best young inside linebackers.
Seriously.
Last season at this time, hardly anyone, including Broncos fans, were talking about Johnson. Many likely didn’t even know he was on the team. Sometimes a guy just needs a chance.
Johnson was an undrafted free agent signed by the Broncos in April 2018 but he was waived during that season, re-signed and placed on the practice squad before signing a futures contract at the end of the season.
That is usually the type of career trajectory for a guy who hangs around one team or several teams by fails to ever make an impact. Not Johnson.
Given his first career start in Week 5 against the Los Angeles Chargers last season, Johnson played a great game, even intercepting a pass by Philip Rivers in the end zone, possibly the biggest play of that game.
He played well the rest of the season, showing the type of consistency the Broncos need at the inside linebacker spot. He was tied for second on the team with 93 tackles, second on the team with seven tackles for loss and he led the team with two forced fumbles.
Many would consider that a breakout season, but Johnson is still not talked about on a widespread scale. Not yet anyway.
After he goes out and repeats the performance this coming season, Johnson could be selected to the Pro Bowl and be looked at as one of the league’s top players at his position. That sounded like it was not a possibility not long ago and now it could be considered a probability.