FB Malcolm Johnson Scouting Report Part 1: Receiving

Malcolm Johnson

6'1" 231 pounds

40-4.68 10-1.66 bench-19 vert-32 
broad-9'4 shuttle-4.43 3-cone-7.14

Receiving Strengths:

• effective downfield receiver; some deep speed
• enough quickness to threaten the seam
• reliable hands
• nice body control and tracks the ball well
• good route runner for a tight end on a wide variety of routes at all levels of the field
• tons of experience split out wide and in the slot and has a natural feel for it
• enough size to be a mismatch for corners and uses his body to shield defenders from the ball
• range and sharp cuts pose big problems for linebackers
• athletic with ball in his hands after the catch

Receiving Weaknesses:

• struggles to separate underneath vs. corners, but uses his body to box them out
• has ability to extend for the ball but has bad habit of body catching, which gives smaller defenders a chance to break up the play
• could compete for the ball more aggressively, but hangs on well upon contact
• size may not pose much trouble for safeties
• good athlete but not explosive or unique; if he succeeds it'll be due to being a surprisingly good route runner for his size and build and for being so comfortable as a receiver

Struggles to get separation on this out route vs. off-man coverage. Corner is able to break and close to take it away:

This time the corner hesitates and he gets separation. On both this and the previous play, Johnson runs a crisp route with a nice cut.

Johnson competes here and gets the ball into his body but it gets poked out. He really needs to catch it with his hands and keep the ball away from the defender:

Malcolm catches a slant in stride and picks up another seven yards, showing quick acceleration after the catch:

Johnson runs a good whip route against this zone coverage. Looks like he's running a post but then pivots to the outside:

Stumbles on this out route, but shows ability to get nice separation in the second level of the defense:

Malcolm Johnson has the speed, get off, and agility to burn defenses along the seams in their zone coverage:

It gets really crowded on this deep post due to the inside receiver breaking off his fly route to go after the pass too, but Johnson shows relevant speed to threaten downfield and physicality to compete for ball and hang on:

Boxes out well and goes up to get the ball on this back shoulder fade. Would like to see him extend his arms and make a hands catch here, though.

Johnson takes a huge hit on this play but hangs on to the ball:

Athleticism and toughness to fight for yards after the catch:

Has the running ability to be a threat on shovel passes and screens:

Johnson releases on play action here. The better he can learn to sell his blocks and then slip into routes the bigger the role he'll have this season: