A surprise player who could fall to Seahawks at No. 18

Nearly every year, at least one or two highly regarded prospects end up falling further than expected on the opening night of the NFL Draft. And with the Seattle Seahawks holding a pick in the middle of the first round, they could potentially be in range to capitalize on that.

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In this year’s class, is there one player in particular who could slide down to the Seahawks at No. 18?

Two recent guests on the Seattle Sports airwaves listed the same name: Michigan cornerback Will Johnson.

When healthy, Johnson was one of the best defensive players in college football over the past two years. But he missed half of last season with a toe injury and then didn’t participate in Michigan’s pro day due to a hamstring injury, according to ESPN. He later held an individual pro day but didn’t run the 40-yard dash.

That’s prompted concerns from scouts over his speed, which is why The Athletic’s Nick Baumgardner and NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah both think there’s a chance he could drop and become an option for the Seahawks at No. 18.

“He hurt his hamstring pretty early (in the pre-draft process) and just shut it down and then hasn’t worked out much (for teams),” Baumgardner said to Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy last week. “But if you put the tape on him, he’s got terrific length at 6-2 with great, long arms, really good agility, really good burst, outstanding IQ.

“If you watch that year (in 2023) when Michigan won the national title, he was one of the best defensive players in the country. But he’s also a guy who didn’t play much (last year) and could slide.”

A stellar college career

Over his three-year career at Michigan, Johnson totaled nine interceptions and three pick-sixes in 32 games. He allowed just two touchdown passes and limited opposing quarterbacks to a 54% completion rate when targeted, according to Pro Football Focus. He helped key a dominant defense that propelled the Wolverines to a national championship.

And the most amazing stat: Over the past two seasons, he had three pick-sixes and didn’t surrender a single TD pass.

NFL.com ranks Johnson as the sixth-best overall prospect in the draft and the second-best cornerback.

ESPN’s Matt Miller, ESPN’s Field Yates and NFL.com’s Chad Reuter have Johnson being selected in No. 11-15 range in their most recent mock drafts. The Athletic’s Dane Brugler predicts Johnson to be available at No. 18 for Seattle, but ultimately has him landing with the Green Bay Packers at No. 23.

“He’s someone who was predicted to be like a top-10 or top-five pick in this draft coming into the year,” Jeremiah said Wednesday to Brock and Salk. “… He plays downhill, he sees it, he’s got excellent instincts. He’s got really, really good vision and ball skills and he’s a big corner.

“The question was, can he really, really run? That was my concern. … And all of a sudden the draft’s here and the guy never ran a 40, which is a reason why in talking to some teams there’s a feeling that he could end up sliding a little bit.”

Listen to the full conversation with The Athletic’s Nick Baumgardner at this link. Hear the full conversation with NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah at this link.

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