Tyler Johnson’s journey from Gophers to NFL continues at Combine
Going through a single job interview is a stressful undertaking for any kid just out of college. Now think about a four month job interview with 32 companies. That’s what former Gophers wide receiver Tyler Johnson and his fellow members of the incoming NFL rookie class are in the midst of as they hit the NFL Scouting Combine this week in Indianapolis for physicals, interviews with team GMs, coaches and scouts and on-field drills and testing.
Johnson’s post-college journey to the NFL began two days after Minnesota’s Outback Bowl win over Auburn, a game in which he won MVP honors after a 204 yard, two touchdown receiving day. After signing with the Minneapolis-based agent group IFA after the game, the native Minnesotan (Minneapolis North grad) and Gophers’ career record holder in receiving yards (3,305) and receiving touchdowns (33) was off to San Diego on January 3 to begin his pre-draft training at the EXOS facility.
“After the game, it was quickly back to work which actually is pretty typical for athletes and the mindset wasn’t tough at all to get back to doing what you love,” Johnson said. “The process has been great. It’s something I’ve worked my entire life for and to be able to represent myself, my family, my community and the University of Minnesota, it’s a huge blessing.
“With this Combine and pre-draft prep, I feel I’m moving in the right direction and getting to exactly where I need to be. Once you’re going hard, the workouts are pretty hard and challenging but that’s what you strive for—no pain, no gain as they say. I’m working to become a better player, learning so much and translating the weight room stuff to the on field activities as well.”
Johnson had two training sessions per day for about five total hours on the field and in the gym and it occurred six days a week in San Diego with lighter sessions on Wednesdays and Sundays off. Johnson said there were 30 NFL draft prospects training for the Combine and Pro Days at the facility. Receiver drills, practice on running 40-yard dashes and working on other Combine drills were part of his daily regimen. Proper nutrition was emphasized.
After five weeks in San Diego, Johnson returned to the Twin Cities for workouts with Vikings star receiver Adam Thielen at ETS Performance, a facility where Thielen is part-owner.
Johnson also did interview prep with me, which is part of my role as senior consultant at IFA. We reviewed the types of questions that he is being asked in the interview sessions with team officials including diagramming plays he ran at Minnesota and coverages he faced.
At the Combine, Johnson is participating in positional drills along with the physicals and interviews and he also will take the Wonderlic test which is a 12 minute, 50 question intelligence test. He is waiting until his Pro Day at Minnesota on March 25 to be tested in the 40 yard dash and a few other on-field drills so he can continue to work on form and technique.
Between the Combine and Pro Day, Johnson will continue his training in the Twin Cities at ETS. In early April, there will be visits to NFL team facilities around the country for follow-up testing, workouts with GMs and coaches watching closely and more questioning as teams seek to get to know him better and determine how high they would draft him.
Most mock drafts have Johnson projected to be drafted in the second or third round as part of a deep wide receiver class but he is focused on his training and not thinking about when or by whom he’ll be selected. “I have no current goals for myself. I’m just feeling very excited, getting close to being a dream come true but it’s almost a never ending type of dream because once you get there, you want more so I‘m going to continue to work hard day in and day out and continue to be the best I can possibly be.”
All part of that four month job interview process leading up to Johnson hearing his name called on NFL Draft weekend April 23-25.
Around the NFL Observations:
1. Other former Gophers participating in this week’s NFL Combine are safety Antoine Winfield Jr., linebacker Kamal Martin and defensive end Carter Coughlin.
2. Vikings GM Rick Spielman met with the media at the Combine and had some interesting thoughts on two of his key offensive players—receiver Stefon Diggs and running back Dalvin Cook. He shot down the trade rumors on Diggs in saying, ”Stefon last year had probably his most productive year and he’s a young receiver we just extended. He’s not only a major part of our offense and a major part of our organization winning games, but he also does a lot of things for this organization off the field as well. There is no reason—the rumors--to anticipate that Stefon Diggs is not going to be a Minnesota Viking.”
As for a possible extension for Cook who is entering the final year of his rookie contract, Spielman said he’s part of “those core group of players that we definitely want to try and keep.” He added that an extension for a player such as Cook usually gets signed in the weeks prior to training camp.
Spielman talked of the importance of both Diggs and Cook in saying, “When you have some of the offensive talent that we have with Diggs and Thielen together and Rudy (Kyle Rudolph) and Irv Smith and Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison, we have a pretty good supporting cast around our quarterback.”
3. The franchise tag window has opened and runs through March 12, The question surrounding the Vikings is whether the team will place the franchise tag on safety Anthony Harris at the amount of $12.735 million for one year. That would keep him in Minnesota unless a team makes an offer that the Vikings don’t match which would cost two first round picks. The Vikings also can transition Harris at $10.8 million which would give the Vikings a right of first refusal to match an offer from another team. With cap space tight, it will be interesting to see if the Vikings use one of the tags on the NFL’s leading interceptor last season or allow him to hit free agency on March 18.
4. The big NFL news this week involved the proposed new Collective Bargaining Agreement after the owners approved the deal that has been negotiated with the NFL Players Association and sent it on to the players for approval. There’s been lots of talk about a 17th regular season game that can be added under this deal with the preseason being reduced from four to three games. I definitely like shortening the preseason (only two preseason games would be even better) and while I think 16 regular season games is sufficient, the league is not going to drop a preseason game and lose a revenue source without adding that extra regular season game.
I’m fine with the proposal to add two more playoff teams as the NFL still will have fewer playoff teams with 14 than the NBA and NHL who both have 16 teams in postseason.
With minimum salaries and benefits jumping significantly along with fewer practices allowed in full pads at training camp, I expect the players to approve the new CBA in the coming weeks.