With their 4th selection in the 2018 NFL Draft, the Buffalo Bills selected the cornerback Taron Johnson from Weber State.

In 2017, the former Wildcat was a senior captain of his team, recognized as a Big Sky defensive MVP and earned consensus first-team FCS All-American honors, racking up, 49 tackles (three for loss), three interceptions, nine pass break-ups, two sacks and one forced fumble. He was also the first Weber State player to be invited to the Senior Bowl in 18 years.

Another example of him struggling to create separation in the Senior Bowl against Taron Johnson. pic.twitter.com/He1tK2UyFI — Marcus Chai (@OaklandScout) May 2, 2018

Johnson is an aggressive CB with good quickness and ball skills and has experience playing a variety of coverage techniques.

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He’s made his fair share of plays on the ball, racking up 42 career passes breakups, and is a very good tackler for his position.

At 5’11” and 192 pounds Johnson lacks ideal size and length to play on the perimeter, despite having a lot of college experience there. His 4.5 speed and 30 7/8″ arm length could make it very difficult to close on NFL receivers and make a play on the ball, especially over the middle.

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When in man coverage he does a great job of cutting off routes, getting his hands on receivers but one wonders if he will be able to do that at the next level.

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According to Head Coach Sean McDermott and General Manager Brandon Beane, Taron Johnson will come in and compete for the nickel cornerback spot. His skill set matches what his coaches are looking for the position and without former nickel CB Leonard Johnson in the picture, Taron will likely need to beat out recent free agent signing Phillip Gaines for the job. Maybe not the most exciting competition on paper, but looking at what McDermott and Beane were able to find in Jordan Poyer, EJ Gaines, Tre’Davious White and even Micah Hyde, we surely can expect good things from the man who emerges as the winner there.

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