2024 NFL Draft Canadian Prospects: Theo Johnson

The bright lights of the NFL calendar year are not switched on the Thursday night after Labour Day when the season kicks off. Rather, they go on in April when the NFL holds its annual draft, with the shiniest lights being during the first round of selections. It’s a massive occasion that’s given all the hoopla and media blitz of a traditional Sunday slate of games in the autumn.

A fun fact for NFL fans north of the border is that many Canadians have made it to the pros over the past decade, more than ever before. This year’s draft class promises to feature a few more. With that in mind, we look at one player in particular: Theo Johnson.

Sports Interaction has you covered for this year’s event. Check out our NFL Draft props. We even have a couple of proposition regarding possible Canadian draftees.

2024 NFL Draft Odds

Theo Johnson, Tight End at Penn State

Winnipeg born and Windsor raised, the 6-feet-6, 259-pound Johnson is a product of Pennsylvania State football program. The Nittany Lions finished third in the Big Ten last year with a 7-2 record and overall tally of 10-3. Johnson partook in 12 of the school’s matches.

Last year was by far the tight end’s most productive. He tallied the most catches of his college career with 34, although his yards only went up marginally from 2022. That season he caught for 328 total yards, which increased to 341 in 2023 (a per catch average of 16.4 in 2022 to 10.0). More promising is that his touchdowns shot up from four to seven.

He became a bigger threat as the 2023 season wore on, catching TDs in five of the last six games he played, including the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl versus the Ole Miss Rebels. That said, the Nittany Lions fell 38-25.

What the Scouting Report Says

It goes without saying that the draft scouts and evaluators are the kings of spring in the NFL.

While it’s easy for Canadian football fans to get hyped up about Johnson, the reality is that he has not been graded terribly high by those who have studied his game, Pro Day, and performance at the combine this past February.

Lance Zierlein, an analyst for the NFL itself, gives the tight end a somewhat lukewarm evaluation. It’s said that he has talent, but not big game talent. His size works in his favour but he needs to fine tune some fundamentals. His muscular physique makes him a tough customer to defend and he has a knack for making contested catches. His route running is, overall, fair.

The problems are after he makes the catch and when he’s not the focal point of a play. The notion of a blocking tight end is all the rage these days and this is a department in which Johnson’s game is lacking. He’s also not especially dynamic as a runner after corralling the pass, limiting his yards after the catch (YAK).

NFL gives him a 6.15 out of a possible 8, which translates to him being a reliable back up with the potential to improve into a starter. NFL Next Gen Stats mark him down as a 76, which is “good.” The experts project that Johnson will be selected in the third round.

We’ll find out this weekend.