FanPost

Cam Johnson: Diamond In The Rough, And Why He Makes The Team.


I could start out by posting his scouting report and then get into his strengths and weaknesses. I could write down a bunch of things that you have already read about. No, the reason I write this now, is because I see a guy that resembles a player already on the team. Yes, I'm talking about Aldon Smith.

Do I believe that Cam Johnson will be as good as Aldon Smith? No, I do not, but I do believe that he could be around 80%-90% the player that Smith is. We all know that Johnson was rated as high as a 2nd round pick by Mike Mayock, and was projected to be a 3rd round pick by many mock drafts. We all know that Cam Johnson fell to the 7th round because of his all around effort (sickle-cell anemia). Johnson was just not that great as an every down player because his sickle-cell anemia trait makes it difficult for him to have the energy to perform at a high level the whole game. Maybe that can be corrected in the future, only time will tell. The reality is that Cam Johnson fell to the 7th round and is now a SF 49er. Now let me show you some comparisons between Aldon Smith and Cam Johnson.

Aldon Smith..........6'4".....263lbs.....35 3/8 arms.....4.78 40yd.....34" jump.....7.19 3 cone.....4.50 20yd shuttle

Cam Johnson...6'3 1/2"....268lbs......33 1/2 arms.....4.81 40yd.....35" jump.....7.20 3 cone.....4.38 20yd shuttle

Johnson played his first 2 years of college as an OLB, then switched to DE his last year. He is accustomed to standing up and in a DE stance. I see Johnson coming in for Brooks and occasionally for Smith to rush the QB on third down situations as Aldon Smith did last year.

Brooks was second on the 49ers last year with 7 sacks to his credit. His 7 sacks were half of what Aldon Smith provided but came in twice the snaps. If Cam Johnson can produce half of what Smith did last year in the same amount of snaps, then he would still end up with 7 sacks as a situational pass rusher. In turn, this would relieve Brooks of some of his duties and allow him to remain fresh the whole game, being a more effective player on downs one and two. Cam Johnson would also play special teams and contribute to the team in the more dirty aspects of the game. Johnson is a no risk possible high return player if he works out. Again, this demonstrates that Baalke knows how to run a draft better than we do.

In wrapping this up, I believe that Cam Johnson (a Cam I can root for) was a 7th round pick with 2nd round talent, making this a great value pick at the end of the draft. Remembering that James Harrison of the Steelers went undrafted and struggled to get into the NFL, reminds me that sometimes you can find a Diamond in the Rough.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Niners Nation's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Niners Nation's writers or editors.