Texas A&M Aggies safety Antonio Johnson is one of the more intriguing defensive back prospects in the 2023 NFL Draft class. But he’s not just a safety. In fact, Johnson played a majority of his snaps in the slot in the nickel back role in college.
Some might even argue Johnson isn’t much of a safety at all, but we’ll get into why below. There are no questions about his size or athletic ability, but that doesn’t automatically make him a good prospect or a strong fit for the NFL.
Yet, Johnson is viewed as a potential first-round pick. Scouts are obviously enamored with his ceiling, but how low is the Texas A&M prospect’s floor? This, along with several other questions, will have to be addressed in NFL front offices across the league. We’ll do our best to preview his strengths, weaknesses, and NFL projection in Johnson’s draft profile below.
Antonio Johnson measurables
- Antonio Johnson height: 6-foot-2
- Antonio Johnson weight: 198 pounds
- Antonio Johnson 40 time: 4.52
Let’s dive into our Antonio Johnson scouting report and NFL projection.
Antonio Johnson stats and background
With his height and his quickness, it’s no surprise to hear Antonio Johnson was a four-star recruit coming out of East St. Louis Senior High School in Illinois. It didn’t take long for Johnson to crack the lineup for the Aggies, appearing in seven games as a freshman.
But it wasn’t until his sophomore season when we saw Johnson become a standout defender at Texas A&M. The newfound Aggies star would be named a second-team All-SEC member, but he’d top this his next season, earning first-team All-SEC recognition as a junior.
Related: 2023 NFL defense rankings
| Antonio Johnson stats | Tackles | Sacks | Pass deflections |
| 2021 | 79 (8.5 TFL) | 1 | 5 (1 INT) |
| 2022 | 71 (5 TFL) | 1 | 1 |
While he didn’t dominate in any one area, Johnson showed enough versatility at the safety position while offering impressive production to place him on the map of NFL scouts.
Statistics courtesy of College Football Reference, ESPN, and Pro Football Focus
Antonio Johnson scouting report
There’s a lot to like about Antonio Johnson’s scouting report. Playing most of his snaps either near the line of scrimmage or covering the slot, Johnson is a playmaker at the point of attack. That happens both in coverage or behind the sticks.
Johnson isn’t afraid to be aggressive, blowing up blocks in the backfield and coming up with tackles for loss. His nose for the football shows up in many aspects, but not as much as you’d like in coverage when he had just one career college interception. But it’s an area he’s aware of and is looking to improve.
This is where part of the issues come in for Johnson. If he’s a safety yet has rarely played anywhere but loaded up in the box or covering the slot, do you really want him in a deep coverage role? Probably not.
| Antonio Johnson’s snaps by position | 2022 | 2021 |
| Defensive line | 49 | 43 |
| Slot | 280 | 603 |
| Cornerback | 14 | 19 |
| Box | 128 | 130 |
| Deep safety | 110 | 4 |
While there are reasons to believe Johnson can truly do it all from the safety position, we just haven’t seen enough examples yet. For now, he profiles best playing near the line of scrimmage, and covering slot receivers, which has a strong amount of value too. After all, he’s certainly not afraid to lay the wood.
Teams looking at adding Johnson will know exactly how to take advantage of his downhill play style. Perhaps there’s even some untapped potential where he can add more range in coverage. For now, he’s a hard-hitting safety who also covers the slot, but how many more tools can Johnson add at the next level?
- Antonio Johnson draft grade: 73/100
- Antonio Johnson draft projection: Late first-round or Day 2 pick
NFL projection for Antonio Johnson
Teams can never have too many defensive backs. There’s a lot of demand for a capable athlete who can both play the slot and make an impact in run defense. But there’s plenty of boom-or-bust potential here too.
Johnson has a lot of pop behind his tackles, which should lead to turnover opportunities, yet it can also lead to a bad approach. If Johnson is to thrive, he’ll need to become a more consistent tackler in the open field and stay more focused on his target when blitzing as a heat-seeking missile.
Yet, Johnson, at 6-foot-2, with ridiculously long 32 1/8-inch arms, should pose a lot of problems for opponents. If he can prove that he can stick with the best athletes at the next level, while developing his on-ball skills, Johnson can become a Pro Bowl player.
Predicting where Johnson may land in the NFL Draft is a crapshoot. He could go anywhere from the late first round to anywhere in the second or third rounds on Day 2 of the draft.
Once he’s in the NFL, Johnson shouldn’t have trouble seeing early playing time, either with a team letting him loose as a slot defender, or by allowing him to play a box safety role. He may not be an every-down player right away, but there’s plenty of reason to believe that day will come in the near future.