2022 NFL Draft: Why Jermaine Johnson is the best defensive end in the draft
By Kelvin Hunt
NFL Combine Results
Aidan Hutchinson
-6’7″
-260 pounds
-32 1/8″ arms
-4.74 forty-yard dash (1.62 ten-yard split)
-36″ vertical
-117″ broad jump
-6.73 three-cone drill
-4.15 twenty-yard shuttle
Kayvon Thibodeaux
-6’4″
-254 pounds
-33 1/8″ arms
-4.58 forty-yard dash (1.62 ten-yard split)
Travon Walker
-6’5″
-272 pounds
-35 1/2″ arms
-4.51 forty-yard dash (1.64 ten-yard split)
-35.5″ vertical
-123″ broad jump
-6.89 three-cone drill
-4.32 twenty-yard shuttle
Jermaine Johnson
-6’5″
-254 pounds
–34″ arms
-4.58 forty-yard dash (1.55 ten-yard split)
-32″ vertical
-125 broad jump
-27 reps at 225 (FSU Pro Day)
The two things that stick out to me are Johnson’s 10-yard split and the length of his arms. The 40 time is impressive, but the 10-yard split displays explosiveness the other guys don’t have. Think about it defensive ends rarely run farther than 10-yards to get after the quarterback with a pass rush.
The length of his arms suggests it will make it more difficult for offensive tackles to block, not to mention Johnson is excellent at hand fighting and disengaging would-be blockers. He has the second-longest set of arms among these guys, and Hutchinson nearly has T-Rex arms for a guy so tall.