One name that has been bandied about as a player for the Houston Texans at No. 13 overall is Florida State defensive end Jermaine Johnson.
The 6-5, 254-pound redshirt senior has the ability to be a star in Lovie Smith’s Tampa 2 scheme. If the Texans are able to find a cornerback or a guard at No. 3 overall, they can still provide an effective pass rusher opposite of third-year Jonathan Greenard in Johnson.
However, taking Johnson at No. 13 overall may be too high for where the Texans could actually grab him at a better value.
According to Michael Renner from Pro Football Focus, who compared prospects’ PFF ranking versus their consensus ranking in the media, Johnson had a 32 ranking against a 12 ranking in the media.
Johnson is one of the more polished edge rushers in this draft class as a fifth-year player coming out. For a player like that, we expect dominance over his competition level as a literal man amongst boys to garner an early Round 1 grade from us. All too often that wasn’t the case, however, as Johnson only earned an 82.3 overall grade last year.
If Kyle Hamilton is on the board at No. 13 overall, or even a receiver, perhaps the Texans should consider using that second Round 1 selection in such a manner rather than nabbing Johnson.
NFL.com’s prospect evaluation of Johnson indicated that he would develop into a starter within two seasons — similar to Greenard’s trajectory where he started more games in his second year compared to his rookie year, and similarly led Houston with 8.0 sacks.
For another Greenard, the Texans can wait until No. 37 overall in Round 2, which lines up perfectly with where Johnson ranks in PFF’s evaluation.
