June 17, 2021
During this semi-dead period of the offseason, we'll be comparing each of the Philadelphia Eagles' rookies to current or former NFL players. Today we'll find a comp for seventh-round rush linebacker Patrick Johnson.
Previous player comp profiles
DeVonta Smith • Landon Dickerson
Milton Williams • Zech McPhearson • Kenny Gainwell
Marlon Tuipulotu • Tarron Jackson • JaCoby Stevens
At Tulane, Johnson was a high energy pass rusher with some burst who at one point in 2020 led the nation in sacks, and finished in a tie for third with 10. Since 2018, Johnson has 24.5 sacks, six forced fumbles, and 11 batted passes. As you can see here, Johnson won with speed against lesser competition, and effectively countered that speed with speed-to-power rushes.
Johnson's athletic measurables aren't super impressive, but his 3-cone time is certainly notable:
At 6'2, 240, Johnson is simply too small to play as a base down DE in the NFL. The Eagles announced him as a linebacker, and his conversion to the second level will be an interesting one in the Eagles' scheme, as it is expected that linebackers will have more blitzing opportunities under Jonathan Gannon than they did under Jim Schwartz.
There are already plenty of hints that Jonathan Gannon will have an Anthony Barr-like role in the Eagles' defense. Players who fit that role include Ryan Kerrigan, Genard Avery, Joe Ostman, and Johnson.
The player that Johnson reminds me a bit of is Kamalei Correa, a former second-round pick of the Ravens in 2016, who has since gone on to play for the Titans and Jaguars, and who is currently with the Chiefs. At times during his NFL career, Correa played a similar role to Barr, in that he was often tasked with spying opposing quarterbacks, while also covering running backs and tight ends, in addition to the obvious edge defender duties of rushing the passer and stopping the run.
Correa has mostly been a role player, however, as he only has 19 career starts in five seasons, and never more than six starts in any season. He has 8.5 career sacks and two forced fumbles. In college (at Boise State), like Johnson, Correa was very productive. Over his final two seasons, he had 19 sacks, 30 TFLs, and five forced fumbles.
Also like Johnson, Correa had underwhelming measurables overall, but did extremely well in the 3-cone.
| Measuarable | Patrick Johnson | Kamalei Correa |
| Height | 6'2 | 6'2 5/8" |
| Weight | 240 | 243 |
| Arm length | 32" | 31 5/8" |
| Hand size | 10" | 9 3/8" |
| 40 yard dash | 4.66 | 4.69 |
| 10 yard split | 1.62 | 1.62 |
| Vertical jump | 35" | 33" |
| Broad jump | 119" | 108" |
| 3-cone | 6.96 | 6.97 |
| 20 yard shuttle | 4.45 | 4.15 |
| Bench press | 16 reps | 21 reps |
The "Barr role" isn't really a glory position. It often requires just doing your job soundly while putting teammates in a better position to make plays. Johnson's best chance of finding a role in this defense, assuming that "Barr role" will exist, is to become an unselfish player who capitalizes when opportunities are there.
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