With their third pick in the seventh round of the 2019 NFL Draft, the Minnesota Vikings added another pass catcher in former Colorado State receiver Olabisi Johnson.
The Minnesota Vikings continued to add talent to their wide receiver room in the seventh round on Saturday, picking up Colorado State wide receiver Olabisi Johnson with the 247th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.
Johnson, who racked up 796 yards and four touchdowns in his senior season with the Rams last fall, is someone who does a lot of things right, but he doesn’t excel at any one trait of his game. Working in Johnson’s favor is his ability to make the right play during the course of a game.
According to NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein, his route running is good enough that he can find holes in zone coverage and his intelligence makes him a reliable target for his quarterback. He can also carve out a niche in special teams, which could be needed after the departure of Marcus Sherels in free agency this offseason.
Johnson’s flaws are mainly athletically based as he doesn’t have the high-end athleticism to make big plays or get yards after the catch. But his results at the NFL Scouting combine came in the upper half of this year’s class according to PlayerProfiler. He also has issues separating from physical coverage, which may be a problem in the NFL.
On the Vikings, Johnson sounds like the complete opposite of incumbent third wide receiver Laquon Treadwell. After a mistake-filled season in 2018 by their former first-round pick, Johnson projects like someone who can make the right play and make life easier for Kirk Cousins.
With the addition of Dillon Mitchell earlier in the seventh round, Johnson has a good chance of making Minnesota’s 2019 roster as a WR4 or WR5 with the chance to make an early impact on special teams.