Every single year during NFL Draft season it seems that analysts around the sport get “prospect fatigue” with certain top players and begin to drop elite talents slightly down their big boards. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, it’s quite simple. Essentially, some players have been so good for so long that people just simply get bored and look around for new shiny interesting prospects to rank over them.
That’s exactly what’s happening with Will Johnson this spring as the 2025 NFL Draft nears.
Falling from consensus fifth overall to ninth may not seem like much of a drop (yet), but the most recent mock draft data and largely baseless sentiments echoed throughout NFL Combine week on him have many dropping Johnson even further into the first round of the NFL Draft.
Why?
Surprisingly, when I was at the NFL Combine last week many analysts and media members that I spoke to all of a sudden expressed some concerns about Johnson’s long speed. Buzz about those concerns began to surface heading into Combine week but when I sought out to find the real source of those worries with folks from NFL teams nobody could tell me where they came from.
When asked about his speed questions at the NFL Combine, Will Johnson had this to say: “Have you ever seen somebody run away from me?” It was a strong, simple, confident statement in the form of a question that not a single media member or analyst at the NFL Combine had a good retort to for Johnson.
Johnson clearly wasn’t having it with the newfound questions on his speed. And while he did confirm initial plans to run at his pro day, unfortunately we won’t get to see him silence the doubters now due to a nagging hamstring issue.
Despite all the negative nonsense on his speed, Johnson showcased confidence, professionalism, and made sure to emphasize that he just wanted his film and work ethic to speak for themselves now as the 2025 NFL Draft approaches.
Hopefully the prospect fatigue wears off and NFL teams realize that he is still very much the best natural perimeter cornerback in the draft class. Three straight years of allowing a passer rating below 50 when targeted, excellent tackling, prototype size and length, and somehow underrated speed will remind everyone of this very soon.