Inside the Mind of an Undersized Pass Rusher with Kyron Johnson

PHILADELPHIA - In the short term, Kyron Johnson’s path to the Eagles’ 53-man roster runs through Michael Clay’s special teams units.

The 6-foot, 235-pound sixth-round pick, however, is also the closest thing the Eagles’ have to star pass rusher Haason Reddick from a traits standpoint, meaning the backup SAM linebacker position could be in play for Johnson if he can supplement his speed with technique.

Johnson ran two eye-popping sub-4.4 40-yard dashes at Kansas’ pro day this spring.

While their paths are hardly the same – Reddick was the No. 13 overall pick in 2017 – the two players have some unique things in common.

When Reddick, a South Jersey native, and former Temple star, arrived in the NFL with Arizona, the Cardinals tabbed him as an off-ball linebacker with the belief he was a little too small to hold up on the edge but plenty athletic enough to be a difference-maker at the second level.

Only after some dubious moments did the Cards unleash Reddick and told him to go after the quarterback in 2020, something that resulted in 12.5 sacks.

Reddick then reunited with former Temple coach Matt Rhule in Carolina last season and again reached double-digit sacks with the Panthers something that earned him a monster $15 million AAV deal with his hometown team.

Johnson went through a similar thing at the college level with the Jayhawks using him as an off-ball linebacker because of his speed and frame before finally realizing, undersized or not, it was time to turn Johnson loose on the edge.

The Texas native responded with 6.5 sacks, something that, coupled with his raw speed, made him a draftable commodity.

“I mean it's like the same as it was in college,” Johnson said when asked about overcoming bigger players on the offensive line when rushing the passer. “You just move it around and getting adjusted to all these dudes is probably bigger than you but the one advantage I have is speed.

“The coaches and the players tell me that all the time. Kyron, your speed is deadly, you can kill them with that and it's just me working on the fundamentals the basics.”

The first step or get-off is the key, according to Johnson.

“BG [Brandon Grahm] and DB [Derek Barnett] have really been the ones that's been telling me ‘you can work this, you can work that,’ but they always tell me to the front, to the start, work you get-off.

“That's the main thing that helps you get off on every (offensive) tackle."

Something Johnson is also relishing is how the NFL treats its players.

"Less off our legs," Johnson said when asked about practice in Philly vs. his days at KU. "Let me say that because in college it is a whole different ballgame from the elite because they do try to save your legs [in the NFL] to get you ready for like game days and making sure you're productive the next day.

"It's just the intensity as well, because the intensity is 10 times faster. You just got to really be on assignment, your keys, your alignment, just be locked in. You got to have the fundamentals to compete."

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Sports. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talker Jody McDonald, every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube.com and JAKIBSports.com. You can reach John at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen

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