Micah Johnson Scouting Report

Heralded NFL prospects rarely come out of the University of Kentucky, but that's just what Johnson is doing. The Wildcats scored a major coup in getting Johnson more than three years ago, and his presence has paid off in a major way. The standout linebacker played in 13 games -- starting twice -- as a freshman and was selected to the SEC All-Freshmen Team by the conference's coaches. After a solid sophomore campaign, Johnson recorded 93 tackles as a junior and was a voted a First-Team All-SEC performer by the coaches. Through eight games in 2009 he had 66 tackles, six for loss. A versatile athlete, Johnson even has one touchdown run for his distinguished career. Johnson is an imposing physical specimen -- standing at 6'2' and 258 pounds -- while being arguably the strongest player on the team. He has decent speed -- around 4.7 in the 40-yard dash -- but he still needs to improve in that area if he wants to be a star at the next level. Johnson is a huge hitter, especially when he gets a full head of steam behind him, but he struggles just a bit at changing direction so he sometimes has trouble against smaller, shiftier running backs. He is not, however, going to get overpowered. Injuries are a minor concern for Johnson, who was sidelined for one full game and part of another in 2008. He was dealing with an MCL midway through his senior season, so it remained to be seen how he finished out the season. Right now Johnson looks to be off the board early on Day 2 of the 2010 NFL Draft. However, his athleticism should provide for a stellar performance at the combine, so moving up is a very real possibility.