2019 NFL Combine: 10 players who showed out

Isaiah Johnson, CB, Houston

Leaving the Senior Bowl the NFL draft community was abuzz with prospect news and notes. One player that was consistently being discussed was Houston corner Isaiah Johnson. A former wide receiver, the 6-foot-2 corner was just scratching the surface of what he could do in coverage.

Being that tall, with 33 inch arms, Johnson has the traits of a lock down, number one corner at the next level. The only question was his athleticism. On tape he looked like he could use some refinement in his turn and run techniques and sticking with players in man coverage. That left questions of whether he was agile or fast enough to be that coverage corner.

When Johnson went out and ran a 4.40, the long speed questions were squashed. Clearly he can run with some of the NFL’s fastest players. He’s a long strider but his 40 showed explosion out of the gate which is a good sign. To compliment that explosion, Johnson jumped 133 inches in the broad, third best among corners.

Johnson looked smooth running in drills, being able to stay low on his turns and accelerate once his hips got around. While he still needs to work on being less grabby, these are excellent signs from a player only used to the corner position for less than two years. He’s got a sky high ceiling and will be a player to watch come April to see how early a raw corner with tantalizing traits can go.