Advanced Scouting: Penn State safety prospect Rashad Johnson

Tall, rangy, and aggressive. If you want to paint a picture of a Penn State safety under Anthony Poindexter, at least two of those traits need to be true in a prospect. So when you see Florida safety Rashad Johnson doesn’t have a recruiting ranking from two of the four major services, you should start with those traits in mind. Let’s fill in the other details of his Advanced Scouting report.

Johnson plays in a modern scheme

The most intriguing aspect of Johnson’s recruiting film is more about his high school defense than his skills. Now, his skills make it all that more interesting, but the South Sumpter defense runs a Quarters shell in high school, which is very rare. Normally, high school defenses play with a single high safety in either man coverage or Cover 3. Most high school defenses arrive at this conclusion because the offenses they face are either run-heavy or feature an athletic quarterback who needs extra attention from a spy.

But quarters, meaning four deep defenders in a coverage umbrella, does several interesting things for a high school recruit. Firstly, it’s a more advanced passing game concept that allows a player like Johnson to get reps that directly translate to the next level. Secondly, quarters acts as quasi-man coverage for safeties, who have hybrid responsibilities to cover deep but must also match the number-two receiver in the formation. Penn State asks its safeites to play in man coverage so this is a critical skill.,

Quarters also asks the safety to make reads and understand what’s coming at him on a deeper level. With this scheme, we can see that Johnson has an advanced understanding of and exposure to coverage.

What he does within that system

So knowing that, we can learn a lot from just a few clips. The first is that Johnson is an aggressive downhill safety who is filling his run responsibility, typically from ten yards off the ball. He shows us very good closing speed, acceleration, and tackling prowess, wrapped in the typical 6-2 frame that Penn State’s safety coach prefers.

We also see a few man coverage clips showing that he can mirror high school pass catchers and break on the football from off coverage, which he’ll be asked to do if he chooses Penn State. Finally, we get to see some deep coverage examples where he has to stay on top of the receiver.

Johnson is also an odd prospect in his offensive film, as he lines up at tight end. Very few high-level defensive back prospects play tight end because they’re usually the team’s top wide receiver. Yet Johnson lines up in the slot and inline. He doesn’t show us any, but that information should result in some run-blocking reps to give us a hint at his physicality and strength for 170 pounds.

More to learn and fit at Penn State

There’s always more to learn with a position like safety because it touches so many parts of the defensive game plan. Even though we have a fun and atypical window into Johnson’s skills, we still need to learn more about his skills in the run game near the box, his deep coverage speed from a single high alignment, and more. However, his 11.13 100-meter track time is a very strong foundation from which to build as a prospect for Poindexter.

The biggest question will be about his growth curve. Will he be closer to KJ Winston, who is 200-plus pounds? Or will he find himself closer to 190 and fit a field safety skillset when he’s a fully formed prospect? Either way, he’s a strong candidate to be a sleeper who outperforms his recruiting stock in the hands of Penn State’s secondary coaches.

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