New York Jets 2018 Preseason Profile: Trumaine Johnson
Trumaine Johnson was signed by the New York Jets to be a blue-chip cornerback. He must come through for them in a big way this season.
The most important signing for the New York Jets, aside from Sam Darnold, that occurred this year was when general manager Mike Maccagnan inked free agent cornerback Trumaine Johnson to a five-year, $72.5 million pact in March.
The 6-2, 213-pounder spent his first six NFL seasons with the Rams. He was considered the top corner on the free agent market and is one of the imperative members of New York’s defensive corps, along with Leonard Williams.
Let’s take a look at his preseason profile heading into Gang Green’s exhibition game opener against the Atlanta Falcons:
2017 Season Recap
The University of Montana product played all 16 games for the Rams last year and recorded 13 passes defensed, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, 57 solo tackles and two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. According to The Rams Wire, Johnson ranked first in the NFL in press-man effectiveness with an “in position” rate of 84 percent. That’s what Johnson can do better than anyone else in the league — use his hands on wide receivers at the line to disrupt their routes. He was stellar in that regard in 2017.
2018 Preseason Forecast
The Stockton, CA native should see a fair amount of snaps during the preseason. He needs to build a bond and rapport with his fellow defensive backs, especially fellow corners Morris Claiborne and Buster Skrine. Johnson should play the most in New York’s third preseason game with the Giants on Aug. 24. He’s still just 28 years old, so he’s in his prime years and he’ll bring more veteran leadership to an improving Jets secondary.
2018 Season Outlook
It’s really hard to believe that Johnson has never made the Pro Bowl. He has 18 career interceptions, three of which have been returned for touchdowns. His reputation as a premier corner is known league-wide. Anyway, while he does not have the elite cover skills of Darrelle Revis in his prime, Johnson will be counted on to shut down the opposition’s No. 1 wide receiver.
That’s why Gang Green is paying him the mega bucks. He must make an impact. There will be a lot of pressure on him. He’s a big, strong, physical corner whose forte is being a superb press-man cornerback. Johnson must get in an opponents face and make things difficult, through him off his route, disrupt his flow and his timing.
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Johnson’s needs to be an elite corner so the Jets can deploy a variety of blitz packages. They don’t have an outstanding edge rusher (they rarely do) to get to the quarterback so blanketing part of the field will have to be accomplished. That’s where Johnson comes in. If he and Claiborne can remain healthy, they should become one of the premier cornerback tandems in the entire AFC. But Johnson is the alpha dog, so to speak. He cannot fail.