Giants Country

New York Giants WR Collin Johnson: The Good, the Great and the Ugly

Nick Falato breaks down new Giants receiver Collin Johnson's film.

Nick Falato

New York Giants WR Collin Johnson: The Good, the Great and the Ugly
New York Giants WR Collin Johnson: The Good, the Great and the Ugly /

The wide receiver position was very suspect during the 2020 season. Sterling Shepard injured his foot in week two and possibly was dealing with the injury through the season. 

Darius Slayton didn't live up to the number one role, and Golden Tate was over the hill, causing unnecessary issues in Joe Judge's locker room. The Giants were forced to use players like Damion Ratley, C.J. Board, and Austin Mack for a large chunk of snaps.

Dave Gettleman and company acknowledged these issues that were possibly stifling Daniel Jones' development. Gettleman pursued a true "X" receiver for Jason Garrett's offense and signed Kenny Golladay to a massive four-year $72-million deal.

Then he doubled down and drafted Kadarius Toney out of the University of Florida. The offense's explosiveness would upgrade with a healthy Saquon Barkley, but now it has taken another step forward.

Golladay and Toney have hardly seen the field in training camp, which may pose a problem, but the depth at receiver through training camp would have led me to surmise that the Giants wouldn't look to claim wide receivers on waivers - that, of course, would be the wrong conclusion.

The Jacksonville Jaguars released 2020 fifth-round pick out of Texas Collin Johnson, a player with a lot of upside. Johnson played for the Jaguars quite often down the stretch of the season, and he developed a slight rapport with quarterback Mike Glennon. 

He's a 6'6, 220-pound wide receiver that creates separation with speed --he's not stiff like many big-bodied wide receivers.

He reminds me a bit of a poor man's Kenny Golladay. He can fulfill the "X" role on the line of scrimmage, has very good contested catch ability (caught half of his chances in that area last season), and uses his body well to box defenders away from the ball. He's still only 23-years-old.

Many Giants' fans speculated that David Sills, a camp darling, could make the team and be a backup to Golladay, but it appears Johnson may receive that opportunity.

As much as I appreciate Sills, I do think Johnson has a lot more upside. He's a more explosive athlete, and their contested catchability is comparable - that's Sills' calling card. Let's look at Johnson's rookie season in this edition of the Good, the Great, and the Ugly.

The Good: Horizontal Weapon

Garrett's offense has a reputation for being unimaginative. Many spacing concepts feature a lot of routes that break back towards the quarterback. These routes have their merit, but they don't exactly set receivers up to accumulate yards after the catch. 

The horizontal cross, whether a drag or a deep cross, creates mixed responsibilities between defenders at different defensive levels, which could be applied vertically and horizontally depending on the depth of the cross.

The offense doesn't showcase this type of route enough, but Johnson ran it a lot in his rookie season, to solid success. He's on the line of scrimmage as the No. 2 receiver that explodes inside and dips the outside shoulder to avoid the contact, showing pretty good bend throughout his body. 

His break could be better--he's a little off-balanced--but he still adjusts well to a ball that is thrown slightly behind him.

Here was the highlight of Johnson's rookie year with the Jaguars. This Yankee concept, where Johnson was running the crosser paired with a clear-out route, was capped off with an aesthetically pleasing dive into the end zone for six.

 Johnson showed good burst, excellent tracking of the football, and the awareness to get the ball across the goal line. However, Joe Judge would disapprove of the extension of the football towards the goal line.

This is another cross off the play-action where Glennon puts the ball slightly behind Johnson. The young receiver probably doesn't have to leap for the football, but he gets his hands on the ball, secures it, and falls to the ground. The ball was slightly behind as well.

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The Great: Adjust/Contested Catch

We saw two back shoulder adjustments before, but watch this contested catch, concentration, strong-handed grab where Johnson leaps between two defenders to secure this bomb from Glennon. 

He then has the mindset to get one foot and one arm in bounds to ensure that the catch counts. He does a good job creating enough separation and using that wild catch radius to pluck the football out of the air.

Glennon was smart when targeting Johnson. He puts the football high and in a place where only Johnson can leap to make the catch. This is another play where we see the concentration of Johnson as he focuses on the football into his hands.

This route concept acts as a smash type of high low concept with the #2 receiver running to the flat and the number one running a flag route that stems inside and vertically before breaking to the pylon. Johnson positions himself well between the underneath and over-the-top defender. Good route, good through, and good catch.

Here was Johnson's first career touchdown catch from Gardner Minshew. Johnson is the No. 3 receiver off the line of scrimmage in the BUNCH running underneath the two clear-outs on the drag.

Watch how Johnson isn't initially open, but Minshew extends the play; in doing so, the underneath defenders bite up, and Johnson gains more depth in his route to allow Minshew to throw the football over the top. 

Johnson shows good processing and adjustment of route ability on this play. He does a good job adjusting his routes and adjusting his body to the football in the air.

This is another route adjustment off some improvisation from Minshew. Johnson takes his route more vertical to create space and then makes the catch through contact. It's just a smart play from a young player bailing out his quarterback.

LockedOn Jaguars host Tony Wiggins provides additional scouting insight on new Giants receiver Collin Johnson starting at the 27:05 mark. 

The Ugly: Experience

Johnson has 74 plays under his belt, which makes him inexperienced. He showed quality processing skills to adjust his route on certain throws. These are promising signs, but little mistakes like the one below happened as well.

On this 3rd-and-4, Johnson is aligned at the #2 receiver position. He does a good job getting off the jam and releasing outside initially before getting awkward in his route. 

He subtly pushes off the defender and establishes the depth he's running for the quarterback to throw the football. He then adjusts the depth after it's established to get him further upfield and ensure that he picks up the first down. 

Because he did this late, Glennon misfired on the pass as the quarterback adjusted his throw based on the initial depth of the route. It's a simple error. Johnson has to either get to the necessary depth initially or stick with the deviation. By switching, he caused a miscalculation from his quarterback that resulted in a punt.

Johnson has a lot of upside, and I believe he could have a flash play here or there if he ever gets the opportunity to see the field. The Giants have a lot of skill at the wide receiver, so it's not a given that Johnson ever plays. He wasn't very involved on special teams, so he may need an injury or two to be dressed on Sundays.

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Nick Falato
NICK FALATO

Nick Falato is co-host of the Big Blue Banter podcast. In addition to Giants Country, his work has appeared on SB Nation.

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