Texas Football: Jaguars get insane draft value pick in Collin Johnson

The latest former Texas football player to fall off the board in the 2020 NFL Draft is wide receiver Collin Johnson to the Jaguars in the fifth round.

Likely to be one of the last former Texas football players off the board in the actual seven rounds of the 2020 NFL Draft, 6-foot-6 and 220 pound sizable wide receiver Collin Johnson wound up going a little bit later than anticipated. Most would’ve expected Johnson to be off the board later on in round four of this draft at the latest, but he slipped all the way down to the end of round five.

The Jacksonville Jaguars would take the ex-star senior wideout from the Texas Longhorns football program 165th overall in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL Draft. Johnson would be the second player drafted by the Jaguars in the fifth round. The Jaguars also had the 157th overall pick in the fifth round of this draft.

With their two first round picks in this draft, the Jaguars elected to bolster the defensive side of the ball. They picked up former Florida Gators star cornerback C.J. Henderson with the ninth overall pick, and former LSU Tigers edge rusher/linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson with the 20th pick.

Starting in the second round, the Jaguars put more emphasis on bolstering their offense, starting at the skill positions. They picked up former Colorado Buffaloes do-it-all wide receiver Laviska Shenault Jr. in the second round, 42nd overall.

This could be quite the combination that the Jaguars get at wide receiver (with insane value too) between Shenault and Johnson.

Their last pick ahead of Johnson would be used on former Auburn Tigers safety Daniel Thomas (at No. 157) in the fifth round. Jacksonville put a ton of focus on upgrading their defense, especially the secondary, in this draft.

However, they will look to provide a lot more help in the supporting cast to former Washington State Cougars quarterback Gardner Minshew this coming season. Adding the likes of Shenault and Johnson will greatly boost the receiving corps. Minshew will have two sizable targets in the passing game that could each emerge as top three receivers in the NFL.

Put Johnson in with a receiving corps that now also features tight end Tyler Eifert, D.J. Chark, Dede Westbrook, Chris Conley, and Shenault, and the Jaguars passing game will have some added juice this year. Who knows what else is to come for this passing game during the 2020 offseason too.

The Jaguars also helped to bolster the supporting cast around Minshew by selecting the unheralded former St. John’s offensive tackle Ben Bartch with the 116th overall pick in the fourth round. Barth was yet another great value pick for the Jaguars in the middle rounds of this draft.

All in all, the Jaguars are looking very good at the skill positions right now. They significantly upgraded the receiving corps through the first five rounds of the 2020 draft, and gave a bit of support along the offensive line. And they still have three picks in the sixth and seventh rounds in a deep draft class almost across the board to work with.

What the Jaguars are getting specifically in Johnson is a versatile route runner that has underrated hands and leaping ability. Johnson is clearly known as a sizable possession receiver that can leap over opposing defensive backs on intermediate routes hovering around the sidelines. But his route running ability in the short and mid-deep passing game is severely underrated.

In 42 games played during his college career wit the Longhorns, Johnson registered 188 catches for 2,624 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns. He averaged a solid 14.0 yards per catch, and most productive season came during his junior year (15-receiving yards shy of hitting 1,000 for the only time in his career).

If Johnson can stay healthy early in his run with the Jaguars, then he’ll be nothing short of an absolute steal for them late in the fifth round of this draft. He missed roughly half of the 2019 season thanks to lingering lower-body injuries. But he’ll have a long while to let his body rest and recover this offseason thanks to the novel coronavirus pandemic.