Desjuan
Johnson.
Desjuan
Johnson.
Toledo· 6'2"· 285 lb· 5.02s 40
"Mr. Irrelevant 2023 was no novelty act: a productive Toledo interior rusher, Johnson fought his way onto the Rams roster and has contributed real snaps — the best possible ending for the last pick."Pre-draft read
Johnson plays under people. At 6-2 with 31¾-inch arms he is short for the interior, and he turns it into an advantage by winning the leverage battle off the snap: quick first step, low pad level, and a swim move he has genuinely refined rather than just owns. Forty-two career tackles for loss is not an accident, it is a player who consistently beat guards to the spot before they could set.
The frame still costs him. At 285 pounds he gets displaced when a center and guard combo him, and he is not anchoring a double team on early downs. His testing was middling across the board — a 5.17 athletic score, a 29-inch vertical, an 8.03 three-cone — so nothing about the raw traits forced teams to project a bigger role.
Multiple front that uses him as a penetrating three-technique or reduced end on passing downs rather than a two-gap early-down body
Year 1: rotational pass rusher; ceiling: sub-package interior rusher on a deep defensive line
Two-gap front that asks defensive linemen to hold the point against double teams on early downs
Los Angeles has used him precisely as a rotational rusher, including in the playoffs.
The production curve went straight up. Johnson played five games in 2018 and eight in 2019 as a rotational piece, broke through with 27 tackles and eight tackles for loss in the shortened 2020 season, then exploded: 70 tackles, 12.5 for loss and 4.5 sacks in 2021, and 65 tackles, 16.5 for loss and 5.5 sacks in 2022. Across 46 games he finished with 189 tackles, 42 tackles for loss, 15 sacks, three forced fumbles and an interception, and he was a three-time All-MAC selection.
The measurements were what kept him at the bottom of boards. Six-foot-two, 285 pounds, sub-32-inch arms, a 5.02 forty and a 5.17 Relative Athletic Score. Teams saw a player who won on quickness and leverage against Mid-American Conference blockers and worried about what happens when NFL guards get their hands on him.
He was projected as a late seventh-rounder or priority free agent. The Rams, who had turned Brock Purdy's slot into a running joke about late-round value a year earlier, spent the final selection of the draft on him and made him Mr. Irrelevant.
- 01
Elite college production
Forty-two tackles for loss and 15 sacks across 46 games, with the curve rising every single season.
- 02
Explosive first step
Beats interior blockers to the landmark before they can establish hands, which is his primary win condition.
- 03
Natural leverage
A shorter frame that he uses deliberately, consistently getting under taller guards and centers.
- 04
Refined swim move
A genuine counter he has repped rather than an athletic guess, giving him a plan when the bull rush stalls.
- 05
Three-time All-MAC
Sustained conference recognition rather than a single breakout season.
- 01
Undersized for the interior
At 285 pounds he gets moved off the spot when a guard and center combination-block him.
- 02
Short arms
Thirty-one and three-quarter inch arms let blockers into his chest and make disengaging a real problem.
- 03
Average athletic testing
A 5.17 Relative Athletic Score with a 29-inch vertical offers no traits-based upside to project on.
- 04
Level of competition
MAC guards did not prepare evaluators for how NFL interior linemen would handle his quickness.
Relative Athletic Score (Kent Lee Platte) benchmarks combine/pro-day numbers against every measured prospect at the position since 1987. 10.00 is elite; 5.00 is average.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 5.02sp50
- Vertical
- 29inp50
- Broad jump
- 108inp50
- Three-cone
- 8.03sp50
- Shuttle
- 4.50sp50
- Bench
- —rep
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Toledo | 5 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | Toledo | 8 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | Toledo | 6 | 27 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2021 | Toledo | 13 | 70 | 4.5 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2022 | Toledo | 14 | 65 | 5.5 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Career | — | 46 | 189 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
Season lines verified against cfbstats. The 2020 season was shortened; interception and forced fumble figures are listed only for seasons in which they were recorded.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Honors
- Three-time All-MAC selection
- 42 career tackles for loss
- Mr. Irrelevant, 2023 NFL Draft
Rotational defensive lineman who plays meaningful snaps without ever starting full time.
Undersized interior rusher whose get-off turns into a decade-long rotational starting career.
Too light to hold the point and not athletic enough to rush full time.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Johnson signed a four-year rookie contract on June 12, 2023, made the Rams roster and played 11 games as a rookie, sealing a Week 18 win over San Francisco with a strip-sack of Sam Darnold. He appeared in 10 games in 2024 with 11 tackles and a sack against Seattle. In 2025 he recorded 12 tackles and two sacks and added a Wild Card round sack against Minnesota during the Rams' team-record nine-sack game. He recorded a 13-yard sack in the 2026 preseason opener against Kansas City, made the initial 53-man roster on August 30, 2026, and entered September 2026 as the Rams' primary backup defensive end.
He is the best version of this pick. Johnson signed his rookie deal on June 12, 2023, made the roster and played 11 games as a rookie, and in Week 18 he strip-sacked Sam Darnold to seal a win over San Francisco — the single most consequential play any Mr. Irrelevant has made in years.
The role has held. He appeared in 10 games in 2024 with 11 tackles and a sack against Seattle in Week 18, then in 2025 he became a postseason contributor, recording a sack in the Wild Card round against Minnesota as part of a team-record nine-sack night and finishing the year with 12 tackles and two sacks.
Los Angeles kept him again. He made the initial 53-man roster on August 30, 2026 after a 13-yard sack of Garrett Nussmeier in the preseason opener, and as of September 2026 he is the Rams' primary backup defensive end. Four years, one franchise, a rotational job on a good defense and a playoff sack. The length concerns were real and they capped him as a rotational player, but the leverage and the get-off translated exactly as the tape said they would.