Too Deep 96 #8-#11: More Songs about CBs and Edge Rushers

Jahdae Barron, Mikel Williams, Donovan Ezeiruaku and Will Johnson will make life difficult for NFL quarterbacks, assuming they can stay healthy and achieve their potential.

So far, five of the top seven players featured in the Too Deep 96 have been defensive players, assuming you count Travis Hunter as a defensive player. Let’s make it nine out of 11.

#8 Jahdae Barron, CB, Texas

Barron was on the field for 518 coverage snaps in 2024, the highest figure in the nation. Texas played 16 games, and their opponents were constantly playing catch-up, so it makes sense that Barron dropped into coverage more than any other cornerback. (Teammate Malik Muhammad played 498 snaps. Other teams that played 16 games, including Ohio State, appear to have subbed in the second string more readily.)

Barron was targeted just 51 times on those 518 snaps. A total of 61 defenders were targeted more often than Barron, even though they all played fewer snaps. So opponents were avoiding Barron, even in SEC showdowns and playoff games.

Barron allowed just 20 receptions for 199 yards on those 51 targets. He intercepted five passes and dropped a sixth. He was credited with 10 passes defensed but charged with zero touchdowns. He allowed a 26.5 passer rating on his targets, sixth-best among power-conference defenders. None of the defenders ahead of him were on the field for anywhere near 518 pass plays or faced a playoff gauntlet of ranked opponents.

Barron ran a 4.39-second forty at the Combine. His 10-yard split of 1.5 seconds was second-best among cornerbacks.

If you still need film notes after that barrage of impressive numbers, here we go: Barron played a mix of outside cornerback (usually the defensive right) and slot for the Longhorns in 2024. He played a lot of Cover-3 and Cover-4, often “bailing” at the snap. As noted, opponents avoided his side of the field. When they did throw Barron’s way, they often discovered that he had diagnosed the route concept and was in position to either play the ball or make a tackle for a short gain.

Barron is billed as a slot cornerback in the NFL, and he has the physicality and diagnostic skills to be a high-impact defender in that role. He could also play outside cornerback in a zone-heavy scheme. Michigan’s Will Johnson is bigger and toolsier, but Barron plays the run better and, well, isn’t always injured.

The biggest knock on Barron is that he has short arms. Interpret that how you please.

#9 Mykel Williams, Edge, Georgia

Williams was never healthy in 2024. He played the entire season on an injured ankle. He rarely practiced. He told reporters at the Combine that he re-injured his ankle a few times during the season. He estimated that he was playing at 60-70% capacity throughout the year.

It was common knowledge that Williams was dealing with some sort of injury last year. But the severity of his injury was downplayed. Articles and game broadcasts indicated that he was hurt in camp but had recovered. That was not really the case.

Watching Williams’ tape, you see a huge, toolsy guy making occasional splash plays but often just getting blocked if his first move is stymied. His change-of-direction quickness doesn’t impress, and his sizzle reel is a little scant. Once you realize he was playing on one ankle, however, it’s easier to be impressed by what he was capable of doing.

Williams gets compared to former Bulldogs defensive lineman Travon Walker a lot. He both bristled at and embraced the comparison at the Combine. “It was a great comparison, but I didn't really think much of it,” Walker said at first. “He's himself and I'm myself.”

But when pressed with a follow-up: “Travon was special because of how big he was and how fast he could move. He was very position-versatile, like myself. That's where I think the comparison comes from.”

The Jaguars made Walker the top pick in the 2022 draft in a fit of Trent Baalke hyper-exuberance. Walker has grown into a rock-solid LEO-type edge rusher (the big dude often isolated on the weak side of the defensive front) and run defender, but Walker comparisons are cursed by his status as a draft-day reach by a barking mad executive. If Walker were, say, the fourth defensive player selected in 2022 (after Aidan Hutchinson, Sauce Gardner and Derek Stingley), a Walker-Williams comparison would sound like less of a mixed blessing.

Even accounting for the ankle injury, Williams’ 2024 tape looks better than Walker’s 2021 tape: he has more of a plan as a block-defeater and pass rusher. As for the tools comparison: Williams did not work out at the Combine because he rested his ankle at season’s end instead of racing straight to a performance academy.

Overall, Williams is a bit of a projection due to the injury, and many Georgia defenders (including Walker) have needed a redshirt year in the NFL. But the tools of a double-digit sack producer are here, and the upside is tropospheric.

#10 Donovan Ezeiruaku, Edge, Boston College

South Jersey’s own Ezeiruaku led the nation with 69 pressures (in just 12 games) in 2024, including a 17-pressure (!!!), 10-tackle, 3.5-sack masterpiece in his career finale against Pitt. He followed that up with a solid box-checking effort during Senior Bowl week.

Ezeiruaku is a little small for an elite edge: 6-foot-1, 248 pounds. But he has long arms that he uses well, with a variety of swim and swat-type moves. He’s sudden off the line and capable of making himself skinny and knifing inside his blocker. He’s thickly-built, delivers a thud when bull rushing and generally holds his own against the run.

Two minor knocks on Ezeiruaku: his lack of prototypical size may keep him off the Bosa-Watt-Garrett tier of defenders, and he’s a lumbering open field runner who won’t be able to chase down top scramblers. Defenders with Ezeiruaku’s body type often spend a few years finding themselves at the NFL level: Shaq Barrett, Melvin Ingram and Haason Reddick spring to mind. Don’t be surprised if Ezeiruaku is limited to a rotation role early. But he’s an exceptional phone booth athlete, and his college production speaks for itself.

Quote of Note: Ezeiruaku was asked (not by me) during his Senior Bowl pressure whether “Taylor pork roll” or “Taylor ham” is correct. “I like them both,” he replied.

First of all, Donovan: you went to Williamstown High School, well within pork roll country. Secondly, THEY ARE THE SAME THING SO YOU CANNOT LIKE THEM “BOTH.”

I am not saying that I dropped him five slots for this mistake, but I certainly considered it.

#11 Will Johnson, CB Michigan

How to tell if Johnson was healthy when watching a 2024 Michigan game: if the Wolverines defense looked championship-caliber, then Johnson was healthy. If it didn’t, Johnson wasn’t.

OK, that system doesn’t work perfectly. The Michigan defense looked damn good against Ohio State when Johnson was laid up, and it struggled against Texas with Johnson in the lineup. But Johnson’s absence is still apparent when you sift through the tape. If an ordinary Indiana or Illinois receiver is catching important passes, Johnson probably isn’t in the game.

Johnson missed three starts early in the 2024 season with a shoulder injury. He then suffered turf toe early in the loss to Illinois. Sherrone Moore and his staff didn’t provide detailed information about the latter injury, because college coaches don’t deign to speak openly to mere mortals. There was confusion throughout November about Johnson’s availability, and that confusion lingered when a reporter at the Combine asked Johnson about his “decision” to “sit out” last autumn.

“It was never a ‘decision’ to sit out,” Johnson said, a bit testily, “because I couldn’t play. I did everything I could trying to get back. I was there with my teammates in meetings and at practice trying to still be very involved. But I was never physically able to play.”

To properly evaluate Johnson, we need to go back to 2023, where we find a 6-foot-2 defender with a silky backpedal and the ability to flip his hips without losing a step. He squeezes off deep routes well. He recognizes route combinations in front of him in zone coverage. He can spot a quick screen and, if unblocked, burst onto the scene to hogtie the receiver for a minimal gain. He’s a ballhawk in the open field and a threat to score after an interception (three career pick-6’s).

Johnson allowed just two catches for 13 yards and an interception in the 2023 National Championship Game against Washington. He allowed zero catches on two targets the previous week against Alabama. He allowed three catches to Marvin Harrison Jr. against Ohio State in 2023, but he also jumped a short route for an interception that game. Unfortunately, Johnson missed the end of that (close, critical) 2023 victory over the Buckeyes with a lingering injury he tweaked sometime in the second half.

As for Johnson’s run defense … can we talk more about his pass coverage? Johnson is a get-in-the-way tackler. When he’s blocked, he’s blocked. A cornerback his size should be a better run defender.

Oh, and Johnson suffered a hamstring injury sometime after the Combine, so he was unable to run at Michigan’s Pro Day.

As a healthy cover corner, Johnson might be worth a top 5 pick. Even with his limitations in run support, he’s a top-of-the-first round guy. Throw in two years of injuries, however and the caution flag goes up.

Coverage ability matters more than anything, especially when coupled with size, aggressiveness and big-game experience. But Johnson’s bust potential is a little worrisome. The team that drafts him had better quadruple-check his medicals.

Will Johnson in 2022. Photo by Maize and Blue Nation via Wikimedia Commons.