New York Giants 2022 Training Camp Roster Preview: WR Collin Johnson

Collin Johnson has some desirable traits that could work in his favor as he seeks to hold on to a roster spot with this new regime.

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Jun 25, 2022 2:00 PM EDT

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New York Giants

During the 2020 NFL Draft, receiver Collin Johnson was reportedly a guy the New York Giants were contemplating for a Day 3 pick.

And why not? Johnson, the son of College Football Hall of Fame cornerback Johnnie Johnson who played for the Rams and Seahawks during his decade-long career (1980 to 1989), had a lot of likable traits, from his height (6-foot-6) to his speed to his fearlessness to play the position.

Johnson put all that on display at Texas, where he caught 188 passes for 2,624 yards and 15 touchdowns. His best year came in 2018, his junior season, when he hauled in 68 passes for 985 yards and seven touchdowns.

Named a team captain for the Longhorns in 2019, Johnson finished his college career in the top ten in school history for receptions and receiving yards.

However, the Jaguars snapped up Johnson in the fifth round of the 2020 draft on the draft pick acquired from the Rams in the Dante Fowler trade. Johnson appeared in 14 games in that one season, with no starts. He caught 18 of 31 pass targets for 272 yards and two touchdowns.

The following year, Johnson and the Giants came full circle. Jacksonville released him, and the Giants were awarded his contract off waivers. Johnson appeared in 12 games with one start at receiver, catching 11 of 21 pass targets for 105 yards for the Giants, having seen an increase in his role after C.J. Board suffered a broken forearm early last season.

Check out our 90-man roster player profiles ahead of training camp.

What He Brings

Jun 7, 2022; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Collin Johnson (15) participates in a drill during minicamp at MetLife Stadium. — John Jones-USA TODAY Sports

The first thing that comes to mind with Johnson is his size. Again, he's 6-foot-6 and 222 pounds which puts him in the 98th percentile of receivers. That size makes him a desirable target for a quarterback looking to throw through the trees.

As a projected "X" receiver, Johnson has always done a good job of using his body well to box defenders away from the ball.

Throw in a 78.5-inch wingspan, and you're talking about a receiver with a large catch radius who theoretically should win more of his contested catch opportunities than not. (Per Pro Football Focus, he has a career contested catch rate of 53.8 percent.)

Surprisingly, Johnson isn't as stiff for a bigger-bodied receiver. He also has speed and has used that to create separation to give the quarterback a bigger window to throw into.

Yet a knock against Johnson coming out of Texas is that he wasn't as physical as you'd expect against press coverage and that opposing (and often smaller) defenders often successfully knocked him off his routes and disrupted his timing.

His Contract

Oct 17, 2021; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Collin Johnson (15) cannot hang onto a pass as Los Angeles Rams defensive back David Long (22) defends at MetLife Stadium. — Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

Johnson's original rookie contract he signed with the Jaguars was awarded to the Giants via the waivers system. That means his cap hit for this year will be $895,000, his prorated bonus having hit the Jaguars' cap.

If Johnson doesn't make the roster, the Giants will get a full 100 percent credit on their cap with no dead money charged. Johnson's 2022 cap charge accounts for .4 percent of the team's total cap.

Roster Prediction/Expectations

Remember how in our preview of receiver Richie James, we mentioned the 13 receivers the Giants have on the roster and how of those 13, there is a projected group of nine competing for maybe two additional spots on the 53-man roster?

We also made a note of the fact that special teams are going to be huge, and we firmly believe that will be the case. And speaking of special teams, while Johnson has contributed in that regard, he will need to show he can be more than just another face in the crowd, something he can do if he ups the physicality in his game.

That said, one can't coach size or speed, and Johnson has both traits. It may take some injuries to help him hang around, but he certainly has plenty of other traits to where if the Giants want a big-bodied backup to Kenny Golladay's X-receiver sot, Johnson can try to make his case.