Give me your true dark horse pick at 31

[kccrow]

Originally Posted by Nightfyre

I dunno man. Have you watched the Oklahoma state game? I feel like that game is a microcosm of the good and the bad on him, minus the press coverage knock. In the game, He does well on short inbreaking routes and uses the threat of the double move to come wide open on those plays. But then he fails to elevate a couple of times to catch balls against weak competition. He makes a critical play to get them into OT then drops a game winner hitting him in the numbers iirc.
He mushes through intermediate routes I think because he takes several steps to change direction. I feel like he telegraphs plays with his body language run v pass v designed play where he is not getting the ball.

In the K state game, he definitely abused Brents with the release step and demonstrated his acceleration. In the Kansas game, he breaks big plays exclusively with that spin move that I don't think NFL DBs will be fooled by. Those were my three games I watched him on and my off the top of my head takeaways.

Yeah, I've watched it. None of these kids are perfect though. There is a significant knock on any of them. Flowers drops balls far more than Johnston. Hyatt doesn't run a great route tree. Addison lacks the deep speed you'd want for his size. Right? It goes on and on the further you go. What's the moral of the story? They all have warts. They all will learn in the pros. They will all gain valuable experience that some are lacking more than others (Hyatt vs Flowers for example). You're going to see these guys grow and get coached up. Who has a high ceiling? I'd say Johnston and Hyatt are much higher-ceiling guys than Flowers, Addison, or JSN. So, you gotta decide what you can live with and where you think guys will grow. I'd take the shot on Johnston over every other WR in this class outside of JSN (who is probably going top 12). That's my opinion. I think he has the most tools and a floor that's acceptable.

I'm not getting too hung up on overanalyzing the flaws. Johnston doesn't have an overwhelming flaw that's a deal breaker for me.