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Welcome to Houston Lonnie Johnson Jr.

bah007

Hall of Fame
Johnson strikes me as a stud athlete. He has enough straight line speed, he's explosive, he moves well.

But he's a huge project considering the position. He's smooth but lacks technique. His skill set really sets him up to be a press man boundary corner. But I haven't seen the Texans use that a ton. This is not an off man or zone guy. He doesn't have the instincts for it. Let him put his hands on guys and athlete them up. That's what he should be doing. I honestly don't see the fit for us. But I do think he has crazy athletic potential. Bigger project than both of the OTs we drafted though.
 

frethack

Rookie
Johnson strikes me as a stud athlete. He has enough straight line speed, he's explosive, he moves well.

But he's a huge project considering the position. He's smooth but lacks technique. His skill set really sets him up to be a press man boundary corner. But I haven't seen the Texans use that a ton. This is not an off man or zone guy. He doesn't have the instincts for it. Let him put his hands on guys and athlete them up. That's what he should be doing. I honestly don't see the fit for us. But I do think he has crazy athletic potential. Bigger project than both of the OTs we drafted though.
My understanding is that we are moving to more man. I dont have a link to back this up right now.

TY and others are destroying our zone coverages, so I guess we are planning to rough him up at the line now instead of gifting him a 10 yd cushion.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
 

JWLCASPER

Waterboy
Johnson strikes me as a stud athlete. He has enough straight line speed, he's explosive, he moves well.

But he's a huge project considering the position. He's smooth but lacks technique. His skill set really sets him up to be a press man boundary corner. But I haven't seen the Texans use that a ton. This is not an off man or zone guy. He doesn't have the instincts for it. Let him put his hands on guys and athlete them up. That's what he should be doing. I honestly don't see the fit for us. But I do think he has crazy athletic potential. Bigger project than both of the OTs we drafted though.
I have only seen it mentioned once upthread, but Johnson Jr. has only played strictly corner since 2015 when his community college coach asked him to switch full time. He was initially recruited to college as a WR. This could explain why he seems fluid with the ball in the air and running with WR routes, because he was a WR at one point. It also explains why he lacks fundamental corner technique with hand placement/tackling/swatting that are more defense oriented traits.

In a best case scenario we have the next Richard Sherman, a WR turned corner with unteachable length.

OVERVIEW
Sherman is a size prospect with some good intangibles that will help him mold into a contributing backup corner for a press-heavy team. However, he does not possess the natural coverage instincts, fluidity or burst to be considered a future starter. Is comfortable and capable in press man, using his size to disrupt receivers' releases off the line, but doesn't show enough make up speed to consistently recover when beaten. Awareness in zone and off-man are only adequate. Has average ball skills but some upside as a playmaker. Tough against the run but still developing from a technical standpoint. Sherman is a Day 3 prospect.
Richard Sherman Seahawks Pick 5.154

HT: 6'3"
WT: 195LBS.
ARM LENGTH: 32"
HANDS: 9 3/4"
  • 40 YARD DASH: 4.56 SEC
  • BENCH PRESS: 16 REPS
  • VERTICAL JUMP: 38.0 INCH
  • BROAD JUMP: 125.0 INCH
  • 3 CONE DRILL: 6.82 SEC
  • 20 YARD SHUTTLE: 4.33 SEC
  • 60 YARD SHUTTLE: 11.44 SEC
Compared to LJJ - Texans Pick 2.54

HEIGHT 6' 2"
WEIGHT 213 lbs
ARMS 32 5/8”
HANDS 9 1/8”
40 Yard Dash 4.52u SECONDS
Bench Press 15 REPS
Vertical Jump 38.0 INCHES
Broad Jump 129.0 INCHES
3 Cone Drill 7.01 SECONDS
20 Yd Shuttle 4.1 SECONDS
60 Yd Shuttle N/A
 
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mussop

Hall of Fame
My understanding is that we are moving to more man. I dont have a link to back this up right now.

TY and others are destroying our zone coverages, so I guess we are planning to rough him up at the line now instead of gifting him a 10 yd cushion.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
Please let this be true. It’s what I’ve been calling for. I want opposing WRs jammed at the line. With watt and clowney if you give them just 1 more second it’s going to be a lot more sacks and turnovers.
 

CloakNNNdagger

Hall of Fame
My understanding is that we are moving to more man. I dont have a link to back this up right now.

TY and others are destroying our zone coverages, so I guess we are planning to rough him up at the line now instead of gifting him a 10 yd cushion.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
Please let this be true. It’s what I’ve been calling for. I want opposing WRs jammed at the line. With watt and clowney if you give them just 1 more second it’s going to be a lot more sacks and turnovers.
From 1 week ago:

New Mentality for the Cornerback Group

Signs have been posting to a changing of the guard at a specific position and the Texans are looking for a different skill set cornerback type in 2019. After the season ended in his final press conference of the season, O’Brien mentioned the need for man-to-man cornerbacks.

“You need corners that can play man.,” O’Brien explained.

Gaine even explained the need for man coverage players after the signing of Bradley Roby, “We knew we had to upgrade some speed and some ability to play man-to-man coverage and a player like Bradley Roby fit that criteria for us.”

Also, Tashaun Gipson mentioned the Texans are a man-dominant team, “Just what they want to do, this is a man-dominant team,” Gipson explained. “I know they like to run man. It just fits my scheme, that fits what I do.”

The biggest eye-opener was Gipson saying the Texans are a “man-dominant team” which is not accurate since the arrival of O’Brien in 2015 and how Romeo Crennel runs his defense. Which leaves the Texans looking for a different type of cornerback for this year’s draft compared to previous O’Brien Era cornerbacks. The Texans are primarily a Cover-2 or Cover-4 with tiny sample sizes of man-to-man coverage. The Texans have made it clear that is a change in operation on how they want to play in 2019, how much is not known but they are snagging the personnel to make it a possibility. It started with Bradley Roby, Johnathan Joseph might have enough left in the tank to play that way, Aaron Colvin was a press-man player from the nickel in Jacksonville, and now it is up to Gaine to find prospects that match that criteria.

Players like Greedy Williams (LSU), David Long (Michigan), Julian Love (Notre Dame), Kris Boyd (Texas), Mark Fields (Clemson) and Justin Layne (Michigan State) fit that mold of press man cornerbacks entering the draft.
 

frethack

Rookie
From 1 week ago:

New Mentality for the Cornerback Group

Signs have been posting to a changing of the guard at a specific position and the Texans are looking for a different skill set cornerback type in 2019. After the season ended in his final press conference of the season, O’Brien mentioned the need for man-to-man cornerbacks.

“You need corners that can play man.,” O’Brien explained.

Gaine even explained the need for man coverage players after the signing of Bradley Roby, “We knew we had to upgrade some speed and some ability to play man-to-man coverage and a player like Bradley Roby fit that criteria for us.”

Also, Tashaun Gipson mentioned the Texans are a man-dominant team, “Just what they want to do, this is a man-dominant team,” Gipson explained. “I know they like to run man. It just fits my scheme, that fits what I do.”

The biggest eye-opener was Gipson saying the Texans are a “man-dominant team” which is not accurate since the arrival of O’Brien in 2015 and how Romeo Crennel runs his defense. Which leaves the Texans looking for a different type of cornerback for this year’s draft compared to previous O’Brien Era cornerbacks. The Texans are primarily a Cover-2 or Cover-4 with tiny sample sizes of man-to-man coverage. The Texans have made it clear that is a change in operation on how they want to play in 2019, how much is not known but they are snagging the personnel to make it a possibility. It started with Bradley Roby, Johnathan Joseph might have enough left in the tank to play that way, Aaron Colvin was a press-man player from the nickel in Jacksonville, and now it is up to Gaine to find prospects that match that criteria.

Players like Greedy Williams (LSU), David Long (Michigan), Julian Love (Notre Dame), Kris Boyd (Texas), Mark Fields (Clemson) and Justin Layne (Michigan State) fit that mold of press man cornerbacks entering the draft.
Thank you for doing the work for me lol. I was on toddler duty and had my hands full!
 

HaveMercy

Passing Through
There’s press-man coverage, and then there’s Off-man coverage.
The Texans played off-man fairly often.
Please correct me if I'm wrong (which has been happening a lot lately). I won't insult anyone's intelligence by starting with "If memory serves me right..." . This morning, it is what it is.

So, hasn't RAC traditionally been a Cover (pick a number) guy with a bend don't break approach? So, going to more press "jam 'em at the line" coverage will be a bit of a change for him? He's been around so long and has seen it all so that such a change won't be novel to him, but it may be out of his happy place.
 

CloakNNNdagger

Hall of Fame
Please correct me if I'm wrong (which has been happening a lot lately). I won't insult anyone's intelligence by starting with "If memory serves me right..." . This morning, it is what it is.

So, hasn't RAC traditionally been a Cover (pick a number) guy with a bend don't break approach? So, going to more press "jam 'em at the line" coverage will be a bit of a change for him? He's been around so long and has seen it all so that such a change won't be novel to him, but it may be out of his happy place.
When with the Chiefs, Crennel coached teams that played aggressive man press coverage.
 

Mr teX

Hall of Fame
Johnson strikes me as a stud athlete. He has enough straight line speed, he's explosive, he moves well.

But he's a huge project considering the position. He's smooth but lacks technique. His skill set really sets him up to be a press man boundary corner. But I haven't seen the Texans use that a ton. This is not an off man or zone guy. He doesn't have the instincts for it. Let him put his hands on guys and athlete them up. That's what he should be doing. I honestly don't see the fit for us. But I do think he has crazy athletic potential. Bigger project than both of the OTs we drafted though.
Good post. I don’t think he lacks technique though b/c he looks pretty good in press man situations where he’s getting his hands on the WR. It’s when he’s in off coverage zone situations that he looks shaky there and I think a lot of that is b/c he’s not quite trusting what he sees.

Reminds me of Josh Norman
 

CloakNNNdagger

Hall of Fame
Please correct me if I'm wrong (which has been happening a lot lately). I won't insult anyone's intelligence by starting with "If memory serves me right..." . This morning, it is what it is.

So, hasn't RAC traditionally been a Cover (pick a number) guy with a bend don't break approach? So, going to more press "jam 'em at the line" coverage will be a bit of a change for him? He's been around so long and has seen it all so that such a change won't be novel to him, but it may be out of his happy place.
Crennel, although traditionally has played cover, there are some years with the Chiefs where he coached aggressive press man cover.

Here's @Max March post:

They block mostly outside zone in the RPO sets but also block power and inside zone at different times. I think personnel wise, they're going to look for zone blockers as this is what they brought in last year and it makes more sense (at least to me) that you're going to have more success having a zone blocker block a power scheme the few times we do it, than you would having a power blocker block a zone scheme (which we do more frequently). The secondary is anyone's guess for what we'll be looking for. In 2017, we played man coverage 4th most in the league (https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/pro-man-v-zone-which-nfl-team-ran-each-the-most-in-2017) and in 2018 we were in the bottom third of teams that played man coverage (https://patriotswire.usatoday.com/2018/12/28/patriots-rank-no-1-in-man-defense-percentage/). I was surprised to see that we played that much man in 2017 because I've always felt that RAC has favored a softer zone to keep the play in front of the db's and not give up the big play. But I think it can be explained by RAC being more apt to adopt the coverage to the talent he has. The thing that seems to stay consistent is how he likes to move people around pre-snap to disguise coverage. I'm really hoping that we're looking for db's that will enable us to get back to playing more man and specifically more physical cb's that can play press coverage well. We'll see what they're thinking soon enough.
 
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