Kansas City Chiefs: Insight on Lonnie Johnson of Kentucky

Lonnie Johnson, the tall Kentucky cornerback, could be a prospect that interests the Kansas City Chiefs in the early rounds. We asked Jon Hale of the Louisville Courier-Journal some questions about Johnson.

As the draft approaches, the focus on defensive back for the Kansas City Chiefs continues to come into focus. A potential target for the Chiefs could be Lonnie Johnson of Kentucky.

Rising draft boards, as high as 20 in NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah most recent mock draft, Johnson could be someone that the Chiefs would legitimately consider adding to their secondary. To provide a little insight into the Kentucky product, Jon Hale, who covers all things Kentucky for the Louisville Courier-Journal helped answer some information.

Best description of Johnson’s play the past two seasons?

What does Johnson do best?

At 6-foot-2, Johnson uses his size well and has impressive speed for a corner that tall. His college stats won’t jump off the page – he only recorded one interception in two years at Kentucky – but his physical tools and growth over his short time in Lexington suggest his ceiling is even higher.

Conversely, what does Johnson most need to improve?

There’s still room for improvement in pretty much every aspect of his game. It’s easy to forget that Johnson is still fairly raw when it comes to football. He initially committed to Ohio State in high school and later signed with Western Michigan, but he academics ruined his chances to enroll at either school. He attended two different junior colleges.

After signing with Iowa State and failing to qualify again, he spent a year away from football in 2016 at Garden City Community College to make sure he could qualify for his final chance at Division I football. The strategy worked, but it made him rusty once he arrived at Kentucky.

What was Johnson asked to do primarily in the Kentucky defense? Man coverage? Zone?

Kentucky’s defense used a little bit of both, but Mark Stoops and defensive coordinator Matt House were able to rely on a veteran secondary handling man coverage more often than not thanks to an impressive pass rush led by National Defensive Player of the Year Josh Allen limiting the time opposing quarterbacks had to get the ball out.

Can/ will Johnson tackle?

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As a junior at UK, he totaled 41 tackles, including three tackles for loss. That number dipped to 23 as a senior, but part of that change can be attributed to improvement from the defense overall. I didn’t see any reason to worry that would be an issue for Johnson moving forward.

What kind of person is Lonnie Johnson?

I never had a bad interaction with Lonnie. His story is definitely one of overcoming adversity. Not only did he have to put in the work to finally qualify academically after so many missed opportunities, he has also been very up front about the off-field struggles he faced growing up in Gary, Indiana.

(I’d encourage you to read my friend Joe Mussatto’s story about Lonnie’s background here)

The Kansas City Chiefs need help at cornerback and drafting Lonnie Johnson could make a lot of sense for the organization.

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What do you think, Chiefs Kingdom? Would Lonnie Johnson be someone you’d like to see the Chiefs select come draft weekend?

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