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Eagles All-22 Film Review: Kyron Johnson is intriguing

A closer look at Philadelphia’s sixth-round pick.

NFL: JUN 08 Philadelpia Eagles OTA Offseason Workouts Photo by John Jones/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

With the 2022 NFL Draft over, it’s time for some film rooms on this year’s rookie class. I will try and get to all the players and some UDFAs over the next few weeks. There are obviously a million scouting profiles out there so this is just my opinion but I’ve tried to backup basically everything I have said with film clips. After starting with Jordan Davis and Cam Jurgens, and Nakobe Dean, we are moving on to Kyron Johnson.

First of all, it was an absolute nightmare to find film of Kyron Johnson or the Kansas defense and a lot of this comes from watching other players vs. the Kansas defense so it is extremely likely that I missed a few plays of his each game but, there wasn’t much else I can do! Huge shoutout to @DoABarrowRoll on Twitter who pretty much saved this article. If you haven’t seen his tape prospect tracker, you can thank me later!

STRENGTHS

+ Is extremely fast and has excellent closing speed. Looks like he could be a run and chase LB at times.

+ Has an explosive get off and can win immediately at times.

+ Didn’t see a great deal of coverage on film but he flashed some speed and ability, as highlighted here

+ He’s not the biggest guy but you can see some strength at times and can sometimes see him convert speed to power

+ Didn’t see any missed tackles on tape, seemed to wrap up pretty well and consistently.

+ Energy! Looks like a nasty aggressive player, exactly what you want in a special teams player. Was giving a lot of talk at the senior bowl

+ Has good quickness to avoid blocks before contact is initiated and fast hands to rip through offensive tackles

+ Can create turnovers, caused 8 forced fumbles in the past 2 years.

+ Didn’t see it on film but looks like he should have the ability to potentially spy QBs and chase them down when they escape the pocket (this is something the Eagles really seem to have targeted this year).

+ 604 Special teams snaps… I couldn’t find any special teams film or tackles but he’s meant to be a special teams superstar and it wouldn’t surprise me based on his speed and tackling.

+ Had a really, really good pro day and senior bowl from what I have read and seen. Full disclaimer though with these videos, in these one on ones the DL has a huge advantage so I would take these clips lightly, but still. You can see the strengths mentioned above. It seems a big reason why people liked him as a late round pick.

WEAKNESSES

- Difficult to see a clear fit. Played EDGE but can’t win there consistently. Looks too small to be a linebacker too and will get swallowed up in the run game.

- He looks a bit like a safety blitzing here size wise, shows how undersized he is even for an EDGE

- Struggles against zone read and relies on his speed too often

- Didn’t see many examples of man coverage on tight ends or running backs.

- Extremely short arms and struggles to get off contact if he doesn’t win instantly.

- Wins with quickness rather than great bend consistently.

OVERALL

Kyron Johnson was a linebacker until this past year, where he played strictly as a defensive end. He looks like a great fit for the SAM Hybrid LB/EDGE that the Eagles signed Haason Reddick to play. He should fit the bill as someone who can be as a LB on the LOS but can rush the quarterback too.

The Eagles have made a huge emphasis the past two seasons to get faster. Kyron Johnson clearly fits that bill. As a 6th round pick, he may never even play on defense, but I think he has a great shot to make the roster because of just athletic he is and how good he should be on special teams. If he becomes a special teams star only, he would still be a good pick in the 6th.

I won’t pretend to have really strong opinions on 6th round picks and the purpose of this article was to figure out what type of player he was really. He obviously has some pretty clear weaknesses and he may never be able to overcome the short arms and size issue to play any sort of a role on defense. But taking a player who clearly fits a position in your defense behind a clear starter, is super athletic, will contribute on special teams and had a really good pro-day/senior bowl seems like an excellent 6th round pick to me.

He will be a fun player to track over the next few preseasons because he clearly has the upside and talent to make a splash play or two. l can’t lie, some of those Senior Bowl reps do get me a little bit more excited than I probably should be but... isn’t that the fun of being a fan?!

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