Pass pro is def his biggest flaw and his hands are average IMO, but he has a lot of shake and other than last year barely played so he should still have mileage left on him. I'm interested to see how he runs, I'm expecting 4.5 range.
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The 2026 Draft Thread - Day 3
- Thread starter Primus Porcus
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Pass pro is def his biggest flaw and his hands are average IMO, but he has a lot of shake and other than last year barely played so he should still have mileage left on him. I'm interested to see how he runs, I'm expecting 4.5 range.
Agreed and yes it looks like they are expecting low 4.5 range which is fine. The funny thing with his not so great pass pro is he supposedly blocks well and sets up blocks well with the ball in his head. You'd think he'd be rated better with pass protection.
philibusters
The 1st Round Pick
I am going to an evaluation of Emmett Johnson's game against UCLA either tonight or tomorrow. He has nice vision and can make guy miss. I watched about half that game last night and he already took a screen pass to the house for like a 50 yard TD.
If you look at pretty much any game this past season, especially the 2nd part, you'll see a bunch of monster games from him. After Minnesota, Johnson pretty much became the enitire offense for Nebraska.
philibusters
The 1st Round Pick
I watched Emmett Johnson against UCLA. The 5'11", 200-pound running back out of Nebraska had a solid game. Nothing really wowed me, but he’s a good player. He looks like a dependable, well-rounded back without one dominant trait that jumps off the screen.
As a Runner: His biggest strength is his vision. Some running backs have legs that are always working — he has eyes that are always working. He shows strong second-level vision, not just first-level reads, and he adjusts well as the picture changes in the backfield. I only saw maybe one questionable decision all game when he bounced a run outside that probably should’ve stayed inside. He’s patient and handles muddy looks well. His open-field vision showed up on a 50-yard screen touchdown where he used his downfield blocker creatively. He’s light on his feet with good lateral quickness and a sudden jump cut. He does a good job of pressing one gap to hold the linebacker before cutting back to another gap. He doesn't cutback too early and give away the gameplan early enought that Linebackers have plenty of time to adjust. He understands he has to hold the second level players where they are before the cutback. That said, there isn’t much power in his game. He ran through an arm tackle on a touchdown and slipped an ankle tackle on another play, but when defenders got solid contact on him, he went down. His contact balance looks below average, and he may run a bit high at times.
In the Pass Game: There wasn’t much to evaluate. He had one pass protection rep and it wasn’t good — his eyes were down, he didn’t square up, and the defender defeated him quickly (though it didn’t matter because it was a quick throw). He had two explosive catches: one was the screen where he adjusted to a slightly high ball and showed great open-field creativity; the other was a schemed-up wheel route off play action. He looked fine as a receiver but wasn’t asked to run anything complex. Nothing in the pass game jumped out as a special trait.
As an Athlete: He has good lateral quickness and solid acceleration and deceleration. His top speed looks decent — maybe in the mid-4.5 range — but he’s not a true home-run threat. A couple times he bounced runs outside and just didn’t quite have the juice to turn the corner. He has flexible ankles and turn a tight corner on outside zone and his feet are light. His deceleration might actually be a bit better than his acceleration. Overall, his burst is solid but not elite--the deceleration though is very good. At 200 pounds he’s not tiny, but he doesn’t have a power profile either.
Final Evaluation: He feels like a good Day 3 player. Fifth round would be reasonable, though not necessarily great value. Sixth or seventh round would feel like better value. I don’t see him as a clear upgrade over Croskey-Merritt or Chris Rodriguez — more like a caliber player. He’s not obviously a true third-down back either, so he doesn’t bring a distinctly different skill set. I like him as a Day 3 option, but I’m not sure I’d feel compelled to take him for the Commanders. I do really trust his vision so he is a high floor prospect, but the lack of power and dynamic athleticism limit his ceiling some.
Here is the first one fourth of the video I watched...
As a Runner: His biggest strength is his vision. Some running backs have legs that are always working — he has eyes that are always working. He shows strong second-level vision, not just first-level reads, and he adjusts well as the picture changes in the backfield. I only saw maybe one questionable decision all game when he bounced a run outside that probably should’ve stayed inside. He’s patient and handles muddy looks well. His open-field vision showed up on a 50-yard screen touchdown where he used his downfield blocker creatively. He’s light on his feet with good lateral quickness and a sudden jump cut. He does a good job of pressing one gap to hold the linebacker before cutting back to another gap. He doesn't cutback too early and give away the gameplan early enought that Linebackers have plenty of time to adjust. He understands he has to hold the second level players where they are before the cutback. That said, there isn’t much power in his game. He ran through an arm tackle on a touchdown and slipped an ankle tackle on another play, but when defenders got solid contact on him, he went down. His contact balance looks below average, and he may run a bit high at times.
In the Pass Game: There wasn’t much to evaluate. He had one pass protection rep and it wasn’t good — his eyes were down, he didn’t square up, and the defender defeated him quickly (though it didn’t matter because it was a quick throw). He had two explosive catches: one was the screen where he adjusted to a slightly high ball and showed great open-field creativity; the other was a schemed-up wheel route off play action. He looked fine as a receiver but wasn’t asked to run anything complex. Nothing in the pass game jumped out as a special trait.
As an Athlete: He has good lateral quickness and solid acceleration and deceleration. His top speed looks decent — maybe in the mid-4.5 range — but he’s not a true home-run threat. A couple times he bounced runs outside and just didn’t quite have the juice to turn the corner. He has flexible ankles and turn a tight corner on outside zone and his feet are light. His deceleration might actually be a bit better than his acceleration. Overall, his burst is solid but not elite--the deceleration though is very good. At 200 pounds he’s not tiny, but he doesn’t have a power profile either.
Final Evaluation: He feels like a good Day 3 player. Fifth round would be reasonable, though not necessarily great value. Sixth or seventh round would feel like better value. I don’t see him as a clear upgrade over Croskey-Merritt or Chris Rodriguez — more like a caliber player. He’s not obviously a true third-down back either, so he doesn’t bring a distinctly different skill set. I like him as a Day 3 option, but I’m not sure I’d feel compelled to take him for the Commanders. I do really trust his vision so he is a high floor prospect, but the lack of power and dynamic athleticism limit his ceiling some.
Here is the first one fourth of the video I watched...
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Always Commander Never Captain
The Free Agent Vet
I'm watching Oklahoma's R Mason Thomas to see if he's a bursty Edge for us and instead I'm noticing Ole Miss's LT, Diego Pounds #61. Absolutely massive LT. So massive that R Mason Thomas is just getting engulfed and swallowed up every single play.
PFF has him as the #321 prospect in the draft. But this guy looks gigantic, size, width, arm length looks huge. His feet are clearly slow in space, but so far they have done well enough to shut down the quick Edge rusher opposite him. If we're an Outside Zone rushing team, then yeah, not for us. Diego Pounds can not do that. But in the right run scheme, he might be a solid NFL player.
PFF has him as the #321 prospect in the draft. But this guy looks gigantic, size, width, arm length looks huge. His feet are clearly slow in space, but so far they have done well enough to shut down the quick Edge rusher opposite him. If we're an Outside Zone rushing team, then yeah, not for us. Diego Pounds can not do that. But in the right run scheme, he might be a solid NFL player.
philibusters
The 1st Round Pick
The DaftonDraft guys mentioned him and two others as possible Tackles on day 3 to bet on. And I think they may have liked him the most out of the three. One of the other two was Marquel Bell from Miami who they liked, but thought his most likely outcome would be that he develops into a good swing Tackle as he is not a great run blocker and has some quicknesss limitations, but in general is a good pass protector. They thought Diego Pounds had a slightly higher ceiling that him. And I forgot the third player they liked as a possible day 3 Tackle. It may have been Crownover who they both like. But those guys probably are 4th, 5th, or 6th rounders, though it would not a shock if one of them was picked on day 2 at Tackles have a way of going earlier than projected.
R Mason Thomas is good, but is more of a Designated Pass Rusher than an everydown player. I posted a Youtube video of his snaps agianst Kayden Proctor and his speed especially from wider alignments tested Proctor's kickslide.
Fair assessment IMO, he is a solid, but not elite RB.
Wow I would have expected Emmett Johnson to go a round or so earlier. Thanks for all your work philibusters
philibusters
The 1st Round Pick
He certainly could go earlier because it is not a good RB class. Some teams could have him as #3 RB. But the impression I get is he would get like a 5th round grade. He is a high floor prospect--lack of power profile and not a dynamic athlete, but his vision great, he does the small small things well like press one gap before the cutback to hold the LB. He is shifty with a real nice jump cut and can make players miss even if he is not going to break a lot of tackles. Its one of those things where he could be RB3 this year whereas last year he would have been RB13 which was the strongest RB class in like 6 or 7 years. Its a weak RB class so him going earlier would not surprise me.
UCF, my kld goes there, have been them play live and most of their games on TV, I know Lawrence but I don't know this dude.
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Bell is a major project. Slow foot speed and lumbering. Can maul in the run game but his pass pro is tough. He plays too high and can get bulldozed.
Always Commander Never Captain
The Free Agent Vet
Pounds had no problem with R Mason Thomas's speed and agility. Proctor is just...I'd rather stay away, yet he's projected to go really early.
Always Commander Never Captain
The Free Agent Vet
So Zane Durant (undersized DT) is putting up a great combine. PFF has him ranked in the 200's, so clear Day 3 pick. I'm watching tape now...he's feisty, his hands are good at keeping him clean for the most part. Size issues obviously come up on tape. But he can get slippery around the OL and pressure the backfield. He's got a motor and his legs are always moving while engaged solo. He can generate late pressure up the middle even if he doesn't win early.
But if we're going to a heavy 1 gap Flores-esque Vikings defense. Durant seems like good value on Day 3. Scheme specific talent that can be scooped up later than their production indicates is something I'm excited about. That's where the GM makes their money.
But if we're going to a heavy 1 gap Flores-esque Vikings defense. Durant seems like good value on Day 3. Scheme specific talent that can be scooped up later than their production indicates is something I'm excited about. That's where the GM makes their money.
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method man
The Starter
Probably hard to tell now but wondering who the athletic G/Cs are who will fall to the 6th. Likely looking at a small school guy
philibusters
The 1st Round Pick
I ended up being pretty close on my estimate for Emmett Johnson. Guessed mid 4.5's as he looked fast, but not overly fast. He ended running a 4.56. Still love Johnson's vision, but I do think that 5th round project may actually be in the ball park as I think he'll be more like RB 8 or 9 rather than RB 3 after the combine.
Always Commander Never Captain
The Free Agent Vet
That's almost a Riq Woolen clone! I think having dual 6'4 corners would be so fun. I was always jealous of early Legion of Boom defense being so unique with a 6'3 and 6'4 corner duo.
Like how do you as an offense coach up your receivers for that matchup? The 16 other games you coach them normally and now suddenly you've got this albatross of a matchup.
He made the grave mistake of being the only RB to participate in the 3-cone. He shit the bed in a historically bad way (8th percentile). Only two RB’s have ever been drafted below 10th percentile.
I respect that he did the drill when so many players aren’t. And over time that’ll skew the draft history I referenced above. But he put up the 3-cone time of a cement truck doing a U-turn, he may be available in the 6th or 7th now.
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