3 players the NY Giants must avoid in Round 1 of 2022 NFL Draft

NY Giants Players To Avoid: EDGE Jermaine Johnson: Florida State

Similar to Travon Walker, I do not understand the sudden hype for Jermaine Johnson. As prior to a couple of weeks ago, he was projected to be a late first-round to potentially second-round pick. Now some experts believe he may be a top 10 pick in the draft.

To make things simple, in my opinion, the only two edge rushers worth taking in the top 10 of this year’s draft are Aidan Hutchinson and Kayvon Thibodeaux. Meaning that if both players are gone by the Giants’ picks, they should either go after a different position or trade back to draft one of the other edge rushers.

As for Jermaine Johnson, however, I simply do not understand why he is all of a sudden being considered a top 10 pick. From a production standpoint, Jermaine Johnson put up some pretty impressive numbers. In 12 games played, Johnson tallied 14 sacks, 53 tackles, 2 forced fumbles, 17 tackles for loss, 7 QB hits, and 25 QB hurries.

However, watching his film showed some glaring issues. For starters, Jermain Johnson MUST work on his handwork. While he possesses a ton of power in his hands, his technique is lacking severely. If he wants to become a consistent pass rusher he needs to work on this. Alongside this, Jermaine Johnson needs to add some more pass rush moves to his arsenal, as this could turn him into an elite edge rusher in the NFL.

The last thing that makes me want the Giants to stay away from Jermaine Johnson is his age. While it is not the biggest deal, he is already 23 years old. Older than Washington Commanders’ defensive lineman Chase Young. If the Giants want to trade down and draft Jermaine Johnson I would not be entirely opposed to it. However, I don’t believe he is worth taking 5th or 7th overall in any way.