WHERE HE'S FROM: Johnson, 6-foot-1 and 224 pounds, is from Hamilton, Ohio and lettered in football, basketball and track in high school. He was a three-year player at Iowa and enters the NFL at 21 years of age.
WHAT HE'S DONE: Johnson made his first season as a full-time starter for the Hawkeyes memorable in 2024 when he exploded for 1,537 rushing yards on 240 carries (a 6.4 average per carry) and scored 21 rushing touchdowns (23 total). He was named the Big Ten Running Back of the Year and earned Second-Team Associated Press All-America honors.
Johnson quickly established himself as a one-cut, up-the-field runner who applied instincts, vision and physicality at the end of runs and throughout games. The Hawkeyes were offensively challenged, particularly in the passing game, and Johnson was the player defenses schemed against. He still scored 21 of Iowa's 30 rushing TDs and two of Iowa's 10 receiving TDs.
NFL draft analyst Dane Brugler of The Athletic had Johnson ranked as the No. 3 running back and the No. 44 player available. Johnson came in behind only Ashton Jeanty and Omarion Hampton at running back in Brugler's rankings, and ahead of Treveyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins, all of whom were drafted ahead of Johnson.
Brugler noted Iowa ran multiple-tight ends sets on 62.5 percent of its offensive snaps (No. 2 in FBS) and consistently ran into stacked boxes (the Hawkeyes were 130th out of 133 FBS teams in passing offense). And still Johnson excelled.
NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah assessed Johnson as "aware" in pass protection and as a player who "catches it well.
"He has value in the passing game both ways," Jeremiah added.
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING: "Johnson isn't a dynamic, make-you-miss athlete but he is a patient and powerful one-cut runner with instinctive vision to crease the defense using run angles and foot quickness. His play style is reminiscent of DeMarco Murray with a three-down skill set to thrive in a zone-based NFL scheme." _ Brugler
