Greg Johnson

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What's his name?

Minnesota offensive guard Greg Johnson has a boring name. No sizzle. If you don't know anything else about each prospect, who are you going to select when you look at the draft board and see Johnson's name next to Matayo Uiagalelei? Which one of those 2 sounds like the better football player? I bet if Johnson legally changed his name to Greg Manning or Greg Matthews his draft stock would suddenly jump by 2 rounds overnight.

Let me give you some other names. Dante Moore, KJ Bolden, Ahmad Moten Sr., Will Echols, Charlie Becker, Ellis Robinson IV, Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, and Ryan Wingo. If you are a fan of the draft, I'm sure you're familiar with all of those guys. Dante Moore probably will be the 1st overall selection next year. What do all of those names have in common? They are all players ranked lower than Greg Johson on Sam Teets's preliminary draft board for 2027. This isn't an April Fool's joke; it is a real thing.

Granted, Teets cautions that the actual order on his board isn't important, only the tier. Plus, his rankings don't factor in position importance. QBs are always going to get drafted higher than guards and centers. Still, it is eye opening that Teets regards Johnson as being on the same tier as some of the top "big name" prospects in the draft pool. Johnson is the 15th highest prospect on the board so far. The player right after him is Nick Marsh, the WR I just profiled and gave a 1st round grade.

Teets isn't the only expert who likes Johnson. In May, Mike Renner for CBSSports did a mock draft where he made Johnson the 15th overall selection, calling him the best guard in the country.

Johnson is considered to be a G prospect, but he also started an entire season for the Gophers at center, and he's even had starts at LT and RT. His rare 5 position versatility likely will push him up the board. Could the Rams target him as a plug-and-play starting center in 2027?

 

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Part 1: Background

Name, School: Greg Johnson, true senior, Minnesota.

Size, estimated speed: Listed 6'6'' tall, 325 pounds. DraftBuzz 5.25 seconds in 40. Draftscout 6'5 1/4'' tall, 5.12 seconds in 40.

4-star recruit from MN. Team captain in HS. Has 3 sisters. Listed at 305 pounds as recruit. Enrolled early in January of 2023. Played over 400 snaps as true freshman. Starting C in 2024. Moved back to LG for 2025. Missed part of Spring 2026 practices due to lower body injury. Academic all conference in 2024 and 2025.

2023: 11 games, 2 starts at LG.
2024: 13 starts at C
2025: 13 starts, 11 at LG, one at LT, one at RT. 75.6 PFF, 80.1 pass blocking, 73.4 run blocking, 10 pressures, 3 sacks allowed.

Ian Cummings mock draft 3rd round, 94 overall.
Drafttek 92
NFLMDD sim 81
PFSN sim 65
Draftscout notes say priority UDFA
Mike Renner mock 15 overall, 1st round
DraftBuzz: 4th round, 106 overall, 5th OG. (+) Team's highest graded OL, tall frame, academic honors, position versatility. (-) Modest run blocker, struggled vs Ohio State.
Teets big board 2nd round tier, 15 overall
Teets (August 2025): (+) Arm length, frame to get stronger, wide base and anchor, displacement on angle blocks, picks off crashing LBs, nice angles climbing to 2nd level. (-) 7 penalties in 2024, long legs lead to being on ground too much, struggles to redirect, occasionally overextends, smaller quick-twitch rushers cross his face, lacks corrective twitch, late to recognize stunts, needs more pop in hands, inconsistent balance and core strength run blocking, consistently stacked and shed by Jordan Phillips of Maryland, lets up early blocking at 2nd level, center not his natural position more comfortable at LG. Early 3rd round grade for a wide-zone team.
Chris Pflum, BigBlueView: (+) Great size, thick frame especially lower half, quick out of stance, explosive, pad level, power to displace defenders, enough athleticism for zone blocking, diverse run scheme on team with both gap and zone plays, enough mobility to mirror, redirect for twists and stunts, anchor vs power, excellent competitive toughness, definite nasty streak. Potentially one of highest graded IOL in draft with Day 1 or Day 2 potential, good value in 2nd round. (-) Tends to let pads rise or get over his skis, inconsistent hand placements, lunges at defenders.

 

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Part 2: Strengths

His weaknesses are irrelevant. If there's anything I've learned over the years in studying OL draft prospects is that the game tape is largely meaningless when it comes to predicting where a prospect will get selected and whether they will succeed in the pros. All NFL teams seem to care about is the player's raw physical and athletic traits. Actual game performance isn't critical if the team thinks the player can be developed. The Dallas Cowboys drafted extremely raw Tyler Guyton with the 29th overall pick in the 2024 draft. Starting at LT in 2025, Guyton graded out as one of the worst tackles in the NFL. In the same draft class, the Ravens drafted Roger Rosengarten at the bottom of the 2nd round, 62 overall. Rosengarten was super athletic but had wild technique. He's developed into a solid starting RT. The only thing you need to know about Greg Johson is he's a really big guy who moves well. In a nutshell, that's all that matters. Everything else I'm about to say, I don't think that NFL GMs actually care about those details. The team has an OL coach; they have a strength and conditioning coach. They'll try to fix any other problem. So, I'll try to keep this one relatively brief, not waste your time.

Johnson has some fantastic 1 vs 1 pass blocking reps in his games. He could be a Senior Bowl practice standout next year. He can drop anchor. He moves his feet well laterally. He's tall but has good lower body mass with long arms. He might not be a consistent or a well-rounded player in every department, but his pass blocking skills could make him a very wealthy man someday. The NFL is a passing league, and Johnson has natural traits that fit as a starting LG.

Rare blend of size, length and movement skills. Most big guys are slow and not quick. Most quick guys are small. Not easy to find an IOL prospect who is both big and relatively quick.

Good short-area burst getting out on screen passes or going to the 2nd level.

Noticeable improvement in his body in 2025 vs 2024. Added weight, more muscle, better body composition. More powerful in his lower half. Frame can still develop more. His best football is still ahead of him, he's not maxed out in terms of physical or technical development.

Relatively light on his feet for a bigger lineman. Mobility for zone runs. Quick out of his stance.

Length helps him close interior gaps if players try to attack the seams and penetrate.

Probably can't start him at OT but he had some decent plays as an OT, even going against Arvell Reese, the 5th overall pick in 2026. So, in an emergency situation where there's multiple injuries, an NFL team legitimately could kick him out to LT or RT and have him start a game or 2 and have a fighting chance to run their normal offense. He'll get beat sometimes, but it wouldn't be a total disaster.

Minnesota has a pro-style scheme. He's not a spread scheme lineman. The Gophers have a solid track record of producing OL draft picks, so he's had good coaching.

 

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Part 3: Weaknesses

A penalty magnet. Lunges and wildly grabs opponents if he's out of position. Hand placements sometimes outside frame. Multiple penalty worthy plays that weren't flagged.

One of my biggest concerns with him is he has a weak and soft punch, not heavy hands. Finesse playstyle, lacking in strength and power. Doesn't generate much movement on double teams and combo blocks.

While he moves well laterally, he doesn't have good hip fluidity. Can't always get his body around to seal off defenders on reach blocks and combo blocks.

Anchor crumbles when he catches defenders, can be pushed backwards in the pocket. Below average grip strength. Doesn't control and lock up opponents.

Falls down frequently. Trips over feet of other players. To keep his pad level lower he has to bend over, so his COG can be too far forward, making it easier for the defender to club or throw him to the ground.

Below average contact balance and core power.

Doesn't have good twitch to correct his feet and body positioning to stay square. When he feels the defender getting away, he normally can't fix the problem and salvage the block. Many of his blocks are on an expiring clock and he can't sustain them for long. Routinely falls off blocks or has messy reps. Slow feet to recover.

Often off balance and uncoordinated at 2nd level or in space, so even though he bursts forward quickly he doesn't arrive ready to make a good block. Doesn't have good body control.

Struggles against fast flowing and chaotic movement, like the game becomes too fast for him. Even against basic twists, typically is late switching over to the looping defender.

Makes some mental errors due to moving around to so many positions instead of just staying at the same spot for his entire career. Not always at proper depth as helper. Doesn't strike me as a natural leader who can captain the OL room, more of a little brother type instead of the big brother.

Didn't play as well at center position, seemed more effective at LG.

 

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Draft Grade and Pro Comp

2nd round grade. David Edwards (5th round 2019, Rams, Wisconsin)

Edwards was a highly regarded player but elected to remain in school for the 2018 season. He got injured that year and his tape was bad playing hurt. He had a promising start to his career with the Rams but then his career got derailed by concussions. It seemed like maybe his career might be in jeopardy but instead he rebounded with the Bills, initially as a good backup then as a good starter. In 2025, Edwards started 16 games for the Bills and was 10th in ESPN's run block win rate metrics and had a 71.4 PFF grade, 19th best among guards. He had the 14th best PFF pass blocking grade among guards. He has the 4th most SIS Datahub points among all the OL in the NFL, even better than Creed Humphrey. His excellent 2025 season earned Edwards a 4-year $61 million contract from the Saints in 2026, almost the same salary as Kevin Dotson.

I don't love Greg Johnson as a prospect, but the reason I made his grade so high is the position. Guard might sound like it isn't an important position. Traditionally, it has been treated as one of the less important positions on the roster. In the last decade or so, things have shifted due to supply and demand. The rules of football haven't changed; teams still use 2 starting guards. What has changed is now it is difficult to find OL who are any good. Just as marginal QBs can get pushed up into the 1st round, now any semi-decent OL is getting snatched up early. Long ago, you could get good linemen in the 4th to 5th round territory. That's not how the draft works these days.

Johnson is pretty similar to Joe Tippmann, who was drafted in the 2nd round, 43rd overall, in 2023 by the NY Jets. He played center in 2024, then got kicked over to RG in 2025. The Jets gave him a 4-year $66 million contract even though in 2 of his 3 NFL seasons he's had rather mediocre metrics.

For better or worse, NFL teams have been drafting OL who fit this description in the 2nd round. If we put Johnson in the 2026 draft, I think Chase Bisontis (early end round, 34) is the better prospect but there was a huge gap after him until you got to Emmanuel Pregnon in the middle of the 3rd round. I'd speculate that Johnson would have been taken somewhere between those 2 players. That's my basic reasoning for the draft grade.