Johnny Wilson

WR, Florida State

6’6 231 lbs.

Combine:

40-Yard Dash: 4.52

10-Yard Split: 1.55

Vertical Jump: 37’’

Broad Jump: 10’ 8’’

20 Yard Shuttle: 4.11

Forecast:

Johnny Wilson is an incredibly interesting and rare receiving prospect. Not rare in his abilities as a receiver, but just in his mammoth size. At 6’6”, his wingspan and strong hands give him an astronomical catch radius. Tall receivers often look less polished on film, their size makes them look slower as runners, slower in and out of break downs, and generally they are right. Wilson is interesting because he actually moves very well for a huge receiver. He maintains his speed through his breakdowns, he can get up to speed well, and looks decently agile. Its easy to see how he moves, and go “Yea he must be 6’2 because he looks slower than he’s actually moving… holy crap he’s 6’6”

Despite his size, he’s not just a contested catch player. His separation is ok, and he doesn’t dominate defenders or box them out as well as he could. But he seems very aware as a pass catcher as to when to trap the ball and get up field or find the ball and secure it. His large catch radius enables him to get down, up or even away from defenders to make these routine looking catches, often for first downs. I think he’s more willing than most receivers to get down and horizontal for the short low throws. In 10 games this year, of his 41 receptions, he made 31 first downs. Find me a better security blanket than Johnny Wilson.

Its easy to attribute much of the positives in Johnny’s game to his size, and that’s fair. He seems very raw at times, looking up field before securing the ball, letting defenders have a chance at the ball by not boxing them out, not being aggressive enough blocking. Then he flashes with surprising agility for his size, strong fingertip catches at full speed, and punishing runs as a ball carrier requiring multiple defenders to bring him down.

He will be a fun project for an offensive coordinator. It’s likely his size will see him convert to a pure receiving TE, and he could succeed at that. I think what he lacks as a polished and NFL ready receiver can be coached into him to find success.

Strengths:

• Massive size, massive catch radius.
• Moves well for his size. Great agility and speed for 6’6”
• Strong player, hard to bring down, fights for extra yards.
• Very aware receiver. Knows when to try for extra yards or just secure the ball.
• Strong hands

Weaknesses:

• Some focus drops, often already turning up field to make extra yards.
• Not as physical at the catch as he could be.
• Slow feet. Tough to have burst at his size.
• Might be more successful being used like a TE.
• Blocking is lacking.