5th Round: AZ takes Brandon Johnson OLB

[The Commish]

We don't employ zone blocking-- or, at least we haven't to date.

It sounds like we are going to with Edgerrin in town. Article by Wolfley a month ago kind of eluded to it.

 

[Scott MS]

Didn't see much out of Blackstock and Mitchell last year. Hopefully one of these guys can play!!

 

[Shogun]

lets not get carried away. there is a reason he lasted until the fifth round

Yeah, but he helps our special teams AND is always around the ball when he did play. BJ is a solid pick for what was left on the board. I don't expect him to impact outside of the occasional spot duty and special teams.

 

[clif]

Brandon Johnson
OLB, Louisville
Some teams think he could play safety.

this is would stood out to me

 

[ajcardfan]

I wonder if this isn't a kind of "Antonio Smith" kind of pick.

Hope so. Smith filled in adequately the last few games of this past season.

 

[DakotaCardsFan]

Could be a good blitzer

My take it he is a project that hopefully can add 30lbs to that 6'5 frame

I agree. Possible special teams/pass rusher. Maybe they thought he just looked good as a Cardinal in college?

 

[arthurracoon]

this is would stood out to me

yea, that would make sense, having him at safety

 

[AZCardsWin]

Dan Pompei analysis
Is a tall, thin athlete. Has the speed and change of direction to cover. Makes plays sideline-to-sideline. Isn't very physical; good fullbacks can blow him up. Some teams think he could play safety.

Could the Cardinals be one of them? This guys size/speed ratio is freaky!

Awesome pick Denny!

Tim

 

[nurnay]

Could the Cardinals be one of them? This guys size/speed ratio is freaky!

Awesome pick Denny!

Tim

Let's hope so!

 

[TigToad]

I think

I think this is a special teams pick. He's fast and hits hard.

 

[LoyaltyisaCurse]

THEY SHOULD'VE TAKEN AJ NICHOLSON INSTEAD!! NOW THE BENGALS JUST TOOK HIM

I know has had character issues, but he is a 2nd round talent...

Also, do we have any plans on adding help in our secondary?

 

[Shogun]

THEY SHOULD'VE TAKEN AJ NICHOLSON INSTEAD!! NOW THE BENGALS JUST TOOK HIM

I know has had character issues, but he is a 2nd round talent...

Hell no. Character issues??!? That mfer has the whole volume.

 

[Goodyear Card]

Brandon Johnson


Dan Pompei analysis
Is a tall, thin athlete. Has the speed and change of direction to cover. Makes plays sideline-to-sideline. Isn't very physical; good fullbacks can blow him up. Some teams think he could play safety.

Maybe he will play safety instead of LB. He does sound like a good special team player. It is the 5th round so we not fault Denny for not selecting a projected 1st rounder.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

I think this is a special teams pick. He's fast and hits hard.

If this is true, it means we spent our first round pick on a guy who won't play for a couple of years and that we are using later picks on special teams guys.

Somebody pinch me.

 

[JeffGollin]

Once upon a time, the Niners didn't have Vernon Davis.

Now they do. And now we have a tall thin OLB who (according to the War Room's Combine #'s) runs a 4.44.

He's profiled as a cover LB who's not very physical, but "who can run with TE's up the seam."

I think we drafted him as a role-player to help on coverage teams and mainly to match up with taller WR's and freaks like Davis & as a nickel LB.

PS He was entirely off my radar screen. I've been scurrying around gathering info on him to post on the BRS.

 

[NEZCardsfan]

Good pick. He'll immediately help on on STs. Has the best upside of any 2nd day LB. With the tools he has, if Frank Bush could get through to him, he could be amazing.

Realistically, he'll be a Nickel Down LB down the road.

 

[seesred]

Safety never thought of that. HMMMM

GBR
40

 

[Mitch]

Once upon a time, the Niners didn't have Vernon Davis.

Now they do. And now we have a tall thin OLB who (according to the War Room's Combine #'s) runs a 4.44.

He's profiled as a cover LB who's not very physical, but "who can run with TE's up the seam."

I think we drafted him as a role-player to help on coverage teams and mainly to match up with taller WR's and freaks like Davis & as a nickel LB.

PS He was entirely off my radar screen. I've been scurrying around gathering info on him to post on the BRS.

Right on the money, Jeff. I just posted the same thing. This pick was induced by the addition of Vernon Davis in the NFC West. Johnson's height and speed will also serve him and the Cardinals well in defending the likes of Jeremy Stevens (Seattle) and now Joe Klopfenstein (St. Louis).

 

[lobo]

Shoulda taken O'Callagan. He's familiar with zone blocking and we could use another Tackle at this point in the draft.


for a long time i thought he would be a good pick until recently and heard from a number of people that he got beaten off the ball a lot more oftern that one might think..certainly has the physical attributes BUT will be someone elses project.

 

[kerouac9]

Also, Lobo, Callahan was drafted 6 spots ahead of Johnson.

 

[BigDavis75]

Also, Lobo, Callahan was drafted 6 spots ahead of Johnson.

It sucked that Watkins, Terma Nande, and Scott were also taken right before that pick.

 

[kerouac9]

That's kind of how I felt in the second when DeMeco Ryans, D'Quell Jackson, Rocky McIntosh, Jimmy Williams, Thomas Howard, and Winston Justice all came off the board before our second-round pick. Once the second round started, I was looking at my board and my eyes lit up like a pinball machine, and I started counting players to see if there were enough for one of those guys to fall to us. Before I knew it, it was all over.

 

[BigDavis75]

That's kind of how I felt in the second when DeMeco Ryans, D'Quell Jackson, Rocky McIntosh, Jimmy Williams, Thomas Howard, and Winston Justice all came off the board before our second-round pick. Once the second round started, I was looking at my board and my eyes lit up like a pinball machine, and I started counting players to see if there were enough for one of those guys to fall to us. Before I knew it, it was all over.

Exactly, we could have given up maybe a Marcel Shipp to move up and grab Williams and have an extrememly solid secondary. I felt that also to a degree in Rd. 4 when Simpson was taken two picks before ours, he is a player I wanted in rds. 2 and 3.

 

[Totally_Red]

Exactly!

Right on the money, Jeff. I just posted the same thing. This pick was induced by the addition of Vernon Davis in the NFC West. Johnson's height and speed will also serve him and the Cardinals well in defending the likes of Jeremy Stevens (Seattle) and now Joe Klopfenstein (St. Louis).

Strictly a pick based on our division. Do really have anybody on the roster who can stay in the same zip code as Davis? Trouble is that Davis will be on the field for three downs, so this kid could be exploited in the ground game.

 

[WildBB]

Strictly a pick based on our division. Do really have anybody on the roster who can stay in the same zip code as Davis? Trouble is that Davis will be on the field for three downs, so this kid could be exploited in the ground game.

He's strickly a nickle backer for now - if that.