Kmet may own Bears spotlight now, but Jaylon Johnson is likely to shine sooner
When the Chicago Bears made tight end Cole Kmet, the hometown kid out of Notre Dame, their first pick in the 2020 draft at a position where they ranked 32nd in the NFL in production last season, you knew anyone else that followed him would struggle for space in local print and on the radio and TV airwaves.
But cornerback Jaylon Johnson, who followed Kmet to Chicago out of Utah just seven picks later in the second round, is the Bears' best prospect out of this draft.
NFL.com rated Johnson 35th overall but also called him a first-round pick in the draft and a CB1 in the NFL. After talking to numerous NFL clubs about him, we rated him the 24th best player overall and the No. 3 corner behind only Jeff Okudah, who went third, and C.J. Henderson, who went ninth in the first round.
Will the fact he lasted until the 50th pick cause him to arrive in town with a chip on his shoulder?
“Definitely as a competitor and the expectations I had for myself, of course I expected to go a lot higher,” Johnson said shortly after the Bears took him. “But I wouldn't necessarily let that confuse on my excitement that I have an opportunity to play at the professional level and live out my childhood dream.
“At the end of the day, I'm forever grateful and thankful. It's just the expectations I had for myself; I didn't expect to be around for that pick. I definitely had some internal things going on in terms of that aspect. But I'm forever grateful.”
On the field at Utah, Johnson was a second team AP All-American in 2019, first team All-Pac 12 in 2018 and 2019, he started 29 games — including two and playing in all 12 games as a true freshman in 2017 — and he totaled seven career interceptions and 28 passes defensed while usually shadowing the other teams' top receiver all over the field.
Johnson also earned a degree in business in his three years at Utah while compiling a 3.6 grade-point average, suggesting that in addition to an excellent football player, the Bears got themselves a very bright, high character young man.
In case you're wondering how many other teams were interested, according to his agent, Johnson met with 25 of the 32 NFL teams at the combine and had FaceTime or Zoom meetings with 18 clubs in the month leading up to the draft, including the Bears just a couple days before he was taken.
His head coach at Utah, Kyle Whittingham, is earning a reputation for sending top defensive players to the NFL and he says of Johnson, “He's got the size and the speed and the fluid hips, ball skills, intelligence. He's the whole package at corner.”
Utah defensive coordinator, Morgan Scalley is equally high on him saying, “He's going to transition well to the next level because the things they're going to ask him to do athletically he can do, and mentally he's already been doing.”
You may have heard by now the only explainable reason Johnson was still available at 50 was a surgery on his shoulder to repair a torn labrum just seven weeks ago, the third shoulder surgery he's had since high school.
But Johnson missed just one game due to injury at Utah in spite of the first two surgeries, and as for his latest rehab Johnson says, “My shoulder is doing good. I'll definitely be ready to go. My shoulder is fixed and I'm ready to go.”
Unlike wide receiver Anthony Miller's two surgeries to correct chronic dislocations, Johnson's labrum tears are not considered as big a concern.
While Johnson is bright, well spoken and polite, don't assume for a moment he lacks the aggression often associated with the Bears defense.
“Honestly, I'm a baller, I'm a real strong competitor,” he said. “At Utah, I had to be the No. 1 corner and going out every week and shutting down No. 1 wide receivers. I'm used to getting after it.
“I'm used to challenging guys. I never shy down from competition. In big games, there was never a time I didn't show up and make plays.”
Johnson looks, acts and sounds like a young man who's going to be making a lot of plays in the NFL too.