Jermaine Johnson II EDGE Florida St.: Scouting Report

Height: 6’5’’

Weight: 254

Overall

Jermaine Johnson II is a long, powerful edge rusher in Florida State’s 4-3 defense. He played his first 2 seasons at Georgia playing in 21 games, while starting 4 of them. After transferring to Florida State this past year, he started all 12 games and was very productive. He is a very good athlete and has the size to be successful at the next level.

Pass Game

Johnson lines up primarily on the edge in a 3-point or 2-point stance. He has an inconsistent first step and needs to be more explosive and take a longer first stride to begin the play. He uses his strength to get around his man rather than pass rushing technique which will be an issue against bigger, stronger players at the next level. While he does have excellent strength and arm length to bull rush and collapse the pocket, he does not have the pass rushing repertoire to be a consistent edge rusher. At times, he will use his hands to swipe away his man, but those do not come often on film. He often has poor hand placement and allows offensive tackles to get to his chest and eliminating him from the play. When he gets around the outside, he lacks the bend to collapse to the quarterback. He had a lot of production this past year but most of it came from his high motor to finish plays rather than pass rushing technique.

Run Game

In the run game, Johnson is very good at setting the edge and does a great job of using his strength to push back his man and eliminate outside runs. He can extend his long arms to create separation allowing him to read the play and fill the open gap. He is a very good tackler, and he shows very good effort in chasing down plays down the field. He is a very good run stopping edge player and he has the power to be used on the interior of the line as well.

Last Word

Johnson projects best as a 4-3 edge rusher who is versatile enough to play on the edge and interior. His lack of pass rushing ability is concerning and may cause him to be rotated in and out on 3rd downs until he develops more pass rushing moves. His size and power will make him a strong special teams player though.

One-Liner: Jermaine Johnson II has the size, length, and power to be a strong edge defender in the NFL, but he needs to develop as a pass rusher before he can be a consistent 3 down impact player.

Grade: 6.6 (Lower End Starter, 1st and 2nd Downs)

Games Watched: 2021 – Wake Forest, Miami, Notre Dame, North Carolina

Team Fits: Green Bay Packers, New York Jets, Seattle Seahawks