I've seen Tyler Johnson in person a few times, and assigned both Chilly and Brett to cover him multiple times over the course of his high school career. Hopefully I can bring you a perspective on him and his ability that you wont be able to get anywhere else.
Strengths
He's comfortable with his size
Tyler Johnson is 6-4, 245, and has been 6-4, 245 since the end of his freshman year in high school. When you see him play, he's not confused about how to use his size to his advantage, because it's always been his advantage. Moreso because he played positions like returner and outside receiver, he often used his size to his advantage, bullying defensive backs and running through arm tackles instead of avoiding contact.
His hands
I've heard comparisons to JayJay Wilson, and while I think there are some very key differences in the ways they make use of their skillsets, one stark similarity is an excellent ability to bring the ball down in traffic. I think this is why Tyler Johnson fancied himself a receiver for such a long time, because if you took away the size and made him an average 6-0, 180 high school receiver, he'd still be top 10 in this class as far as receiving ability.
Speed
We talked a lot about this when we were debating whether Arizona State should have taken a commitment from Jack Smith last season- 4.6 speed is hard to ignore. There haven't been a lot of Arizona athletes that are pure burners. Paul Lucas might have been the fastest top speed player in the country when he came out, and Christian Kirk has that ability, but 4.6 is pretty much as good as you're going to get outside of that. I'd put Johnson's burst ability up there with guys like Chase Lucas and Jack Smith. Johnson's acceleration is great, but sustaining top speed can be difficult. I've seen him slow up dramatically after about 45-50 yards on big plays on multiple occasions.
Pursuit
I didn't get to see him in action as a linebacker/rush end until this season, but what jumped out to me is how easily he was able to convert the same things that made him a dangerous receiver and returner into his game as a passrusher. There's not much you can do to get away from him as a QB or RB due to his size and the length of his arms, so you have to have to try and shake him- but when he locks in, he locks in. On slow developing running plays Johnson could absolutely wreak havok in Arizona State's defense.
Opportunities
Durability
This year, wrist, neck and hamstring injuries kept him from finishing off his senior campaign. That I know of, their have been two times where Johnson has been removed from the field by ambulance, only to come back and play within days of that injury scare. Outside of injuries, however, is that Johnson has a history of getting fatigued in games. He told Chilly this year after breaking off a long TD was that all he could think about as he was entering the end zone was taking a nap. I'm sure he meant it as a joke, but it fits a long narrative I've heard, whether fair or unfair, for the better part of 3 years.
Structure
It's never any fun talking about the merits of staying true to your boundary or transferring in high school. The fact of the matter is that Austin Jackson, Tyler Johnson and many others dating back to Chans Cox, would have been better off as far as preparedness had they been in a more structured program with more coaches, more accountability, and more D1 talents to go against i practice day in and day out. Highland played good, not great, competition while Johnson was in high school, and only two of his teammates over the last three years displayed what I believed to be at least FBS level talent.
Maturity
I'm not going to dive too far into this, because it's an opportunity for nearly every high school player, but it's going to take some buy in and personal evolution for Johnson to achieve what he's capable of at the next level.
Overview
Tyler Johnson is an NFL level talent, as his father was. As someone who played alongside Terrell Suggs and Nick Johnson, Tyler Johnson is as close to that level of athlete that Arizona State has landed locally in a decade and a half. Tyler Johnson's ceiling is similar to Everson Griffin's, but as we've seen countless times with extremely talented Arizona high school prospects, not having the tools to succeed socially and academically can cripple those dreams. Kisima Jagne, Ismael Murphy-Richardson, Todd Peat, Jaxon Hood, Nick Johnson, the list goes on and on.
He wants to play as a true freshman, and I think that he'll have an opportunity to do so, despite being behind Crump and Subtyl as far as expected reps. At the very least, special teams is somewhere I can see him making an early impact.
I view Tyler Johnson much in the same way that I did N'Keal Harry as far as an athlete whose talents were never really appropriately used or catered to at the high school level, so it will be interesting to see how ASU's coaches make use of his combination of size and speed.
Strengths
He's comfortable with his size
Tyler Johnson is 6-4, 245, and has been 6-4, 245 since the end of his freshman year in high school. When you see him play, he's not confused about how to use his size to his advantage, because it's always been his advantage. Moreso because he played positions like returner and outside receiver, he often used his size to his advantage, bullying defensive backs and running through arm tackles instead of avoiding contact.
His hands
I've heard comparisons to JayJay Wilson, and while I think there are some very key differences in the ways they make use of their skillsets, one stark similarity is an excellent ability to bring the ball down in traffic. I think this is why Tyler Johnson fancied himself a receiver for such a long time, because if you took away the size and made him an average 6-0, 180 high school receiver, he'd still be top 10 in this class as far as receiving ability.
Speed
We talked a lot about this when we were debating whether Arizona State should have taken a commitment from Jack Smith last season- 4.6 speed is hard to ignore. There haven't been a lot of Arizona athletes that are pure burners. Paul Lucas might have been the fastest top speed player in the country when he came out, and Christian Kirk has that ability, but 4.6 is pretty much as good as you're going to get outside of that. I'd put Johnson's burst ability up there with guys like Chase Lucas and Jack Smith. Johnson's acceleration is great, but sustaining top speed can be difficult. I've seen him slow up dramatically after about 45-50 yards on big plays on multiple occasions.
Pursuit
I didn't get to see him in action as a linebacker/rush end until this season, but what jumped out to me is how easily he was able to convert the same things that made him a dangerous receiver and returner into his game as a passrusher. There's not much you can do to get away from him as a QB or RB due to his size and the length of his arms, so you have to have to try and shake him- but when he locks in, he locks in. On slow developing running plays Johnson could absolutely wreak havok in Arizona State's defense.
Opportunities
Durability
This year, wrist, neck and hamstring injuries kept him from finishing off his senior campaign. That I know of, their have been two times where Johnson has been removed from the field by ambulance, only to come back and play within days of that injury scare. Outside of injuries, however, is that Johnson has a history of getting fatigued in games. He told Chilly this year after breaking off a long TD was that all he could think about as he was entering the end zone was taking a nap. I'm sure he meant it as a joke, but it fits a long narrative I've heard, whether fair or unfair, for the better part of 3 years.
Structure
It's never any fun talking about the merits of staying true to your boundary or transferring in high school. The fact of the matter is that Austin Jackson, Tyler Johnson and many others dating back to Chans Cox, would have been better off as far as preparedness had they been in a more structured program with more coaches, more accountability, and more D1 talents to go against i practice day in and day out. Highland played good, not great, competition while Johnson was in high school, and only two of his teammates over the last three years displayed what I believed to be at least FBS level talent.
Maturity
I'm not going to dive too far into this, because it's an opportunity for nearly every high school player, but it's going to take some buy in and personal evolution for Johnson to achieve what he's capable of at the next level.
Overview
Tyler Johnson is an NFL level talent, as his father was. As someone who played alongside Terrell Suggs and Nick Johnson, Tyler Johnson is as close to that level of athlete that Arizona State has landed locally in a decade and a half. Tyler Johnson's ceiling is similar to Everson Griffin's, but as we've seen countless times with extremely talented Arizona high school prospects, not having the tools to succeed socially and academically can cripple those dreams. Kisima Jagne, Ismael Murphy-Richardson, Todd Peat, Jaxon Hood, Nick Johnson, the list goes on and on.
He wants to play as a true freshman, and I think that he'll have an opportunity to do so, despite being behind Crump and Subtyl as far as expected reps. At the very least, special teams is somewhere I can see him making an early impact.
I view Tyler Johnson much in the same way that I did N'Keal Harry as far as an athlete whose talents were never really appropriately used or catered to at the high school level, so it will be interesting to see how ASU's coaches make use of his combination of size and speed.
