Jermaine
Johnson II.
Jermaine
Johnson II.
Florida State· 6'5"· 254 lb· 4.58s 40
"A one-year Florida State wrecking ball whose 17.5 tackles for loss in 2021 turned a JUCO-to-Georgia backup into the most feared edge defender in the ACC and a top-15 talent on most boards."Pre-draft read
Johnson played left defensive end in Florida State's four-man front, a 6-5, 254-pound edge with long arms and an explosive first step. His get-off was the trait: he timed snaps as well as any rusher in the class, and once past a tackle's outside foot he flattened with real ankle flexion. Everything ran off that burst, then a long-arm and a violent rip underneath when the tackle overset.
The second layer was power. He converted speed to bull rush with weight behind it, and he was a plus run defender who set a hard edge and spilled pullers rather than getting reached. He chased plays 20 yards downfield. What separated him was the mix: few 2022 edges offered that blend of first-step speed, functional strength and every-snap effort.
Attacking one-gap four-man front that lets him pin his ears back from a 5-tech or wide-9 on passing downs.
Year 1: three-down base end who rushes on passing downs. Ceiling: 10-sack starting edge who is not a liability on early downs.
Two-gap 3-4 that asks him to read-and-react against down blocks and hold the point instead of firing off the ball.
His value is tied to attacking snaps; slow him down and the best trait disappears.
Jermaine Johnson II 2021 Ultimate FSU Highlights
Full 2021 season reel: get-off, long-arm power and the chase effort that won him ACC Defensive Player of the Year.
Jermaine Johnson II Highlights vs Miami (11/13/21)
Single-game look against Miami showing how he wins the edge rep by rep.
Jermaine Johnson EDGE FSU NFL Draft Scouting Report
Pre-draft film breakdown of his pass-rush plan, run defense and top-10 case.
Johnson's profile was a scout's dream and a projection headache at the same time. A four-star junior college recruit out of Independence, he spent two seasons at Georgia buried behind a loaded rotation, transferred to Florida State for 2021 and immediately became the best defensive player in his conference. The identity was simple: an explosive, long, physical edge who won with get-off and finished with power.
The production spike was violent. He put up 70 tackles, 17.5 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks in 12 games, won ACC Defensive Player of the Year, then dominated Senior Bowl practices in Mobile against the best tackles in the class. The flags were age and sample: he turned 23 during his draft season, and the entire dominant body of work was one year in a defense that let him attack. Some evaluators wanted more counter-move nuance when the first move failed.
The board had him inside the top 15 for most of the spring, and several teams graded him as the second or third edge in the class. He slid anyway. The Jets, already holding picks 4 and 10, traded back up from 35 with Tennessee to take him at 26 — a value grab everyone in the building considered a steal.
- 01
Get-off
Timed snaps as well as any rusher in the class and beat tackles to the outside foot before they could set, the trait that drove his entire 2021 breakout.
- 02
Speed-to-power
Converted a full head of steam into a bull rush that walked tackles into the pocket, giving his edge speed a real counter-punch.
- 03
Run defense
Set a hard edge, spilled pullers instead of getting reached, and never treated first and second down as rest snaps for a designated rusher.
- 04
Length and finish
Long arms let him stack, disengage and close, and he consistently finished pressures as sacks rather than as near-misses.
- 05
Motor and chase
Ran down plays 20 yards from the point of attack on tape, and Senior Bowl week confirmed he brought the same effort against elite competition.
- 01
Age
He turned 23 during his draft season after two junior college years, so his physical ceiling was closer than that of the 21-year-old edges around him.
- 02
One-year sample
The dominant body of work was a single Florida State season after two quiet years buried in Georgia's rotation, a thin base for a top-15 grade.
- 03
Counter nuance
When the first move failed he could stall, lacking the secondary spin and inside counters that separate good rushers from constant problems.
- 04
Bend at the top
Effective but not elite corner-flattening for a pure speed rusher, which pushed some rooms toward a power-based projection instead.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.58sp50
- Vertical
- 32inp50
- Broad jump
- 125inp50
- Three-cone
- —s
- Shuttle
- —s
- Bench
- —rep
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Georgia | 14 | 20 | 1.5 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2020 | Georgia | 8 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2021 | Florida State | 12 | 70 | 11.5 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Career | — | 34 | 106 | 17 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
2020 (Georgia) and 2021 (Florida State) verified line-by-line on cfbstats. cfbstats has no reachable 2019 player page, so the 2019 line comes from Georgia's official player bio (14 games, 20 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 1 pass breakup); his 2019 tackles for loss are not published there, so that cell and the career TFL total stay null rather than guessed. Interceptions and fumble recoveries left null where unverified.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Powerful, high-effort starting rusher whose production swung with health.
Long, explosive edge who paired double-digit sacks with real run-down value.
Traits-rich edge whose seasons kept getting cut short before the leap stuck.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Jermaine Johnson II has been a key defensive end for the New York Jets, developing into a strong pass rusher and run defender. He has been a consistent starter and contributor to their defensive line.
The Jets eased him in as a rookie rotational rusher in 2022 behind Carl Lawson and John Franklin-Myers, and he finished with 2.5 sacks in 14 games while flashing on run downs. Year 2 was the breakout: a full-time starter role in Robert Saleh's front produced 7.5 sacks, consistent pressure and a Pro Bowl nod, and he looked like exactly the piece New York thought it was drafting. Then 2024 collapsed — a ruptured Achilles late in a Week 2 win over Tennessee ended his season after two games. He returned in 2025 and played 14 games with 42 tackles and three sacks, closer to solid than to his 2023 form, and Tennessee acquired him in a February 2026 trade that sent T'Vondre Sweat to New York.
The hindsight verdict is a good pick interrupted rather than a miss. The traits that made him a top-15 grade showed up in the NFL: he set edges, he pressured, he earned a Pro Bowl in his second season. What he has not yet done is stack those years, and the Achilles is the reason — the burst that made him special is exactly the thing that injury taxes. At 27 in a new scheme, he is a bet on the 2023 version returning, and that bet is still live.
Data note: from Tennessee