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Value Picks: Juwan Johnson - NO





Want to talk about Juwan Johnson? He comes in at the 152nd pick, which puts him in the 13th round, tight end 17. So, look, Juwan Johnson last year had 42 receptions for 508 yards and seven TDs. So, they used him a lot within his offense. It wasn't a lot of weapons, of course, but they've shown the faith that they have in him by giving him an extension this past season. So, you also got to look at it, he's got tremendous upside with Derek Carr. I know a lot of people are still out, the jury's out on Derek Carr. Me personally, I think Derek Carr is a formidable quarterback. He's shown it in time past, and with the weapons that he's had in the past, Derek Carr has been efficient with those. And let's be totally honest, he's the best QB right now that they've had since Drew Brees in New Orleans.


So, the main reason, again, that I like Juwan at this price point, like I said, they invested heavily in him this offseason, giving him that big extension. Last year, he also led all skill position players on that team in offensive snaps with 61.6 percent, so he was on the field constantly. And again, like I said, they didn't have a lot of big-play receivers. Alvin Kamara, yes, but he was a rookie, so, you know, he was still getting worked into the offense. Michael Thomas was out. Now, a lot of these guys may be coming back this past, excuse me, this season, primarily Michael Thomas. Right now, all signs indicate that he's going to be healthy, hopefully, and, you know, be mixed into this offense.


But Juwan Johnson's got so much potential. His last six games last season, he was only right behind Travis Kelce in yards per routes run among tight ends at 2.16. So, he's getting out, he's getting in space, he's been operated and used within that offense as a weapon. Yes, they brought in Foster Moreau, but nine times out of ten, excuse me, he is, you know, a familiar asset, you know, with Derek Carr. But he's going to be an inline blocker. They're going to have Juwan Johnson playing mostly in the slot. They, you know, they may line him outside. A sneak peek at this idea that Juwan himself spoke to the media in OTAs, and he kind of gave a little bit of indication of how they're going to use him. He basically told one of the reporters that he had been studying slot receiver Julian Edelman, this offseason, because he knows the type of routes that he'll be doing with Carr and the type of routes that Carr likes, like choice routes, the short game routes, everything that Edelman was just a beast at. So, he's studying all of this stuff because he knows that they're going to be using him in these ways. So, that, to me, is a huge indicator of his potential within this offense.


You also got to look at Hunter Renfrow. That was one of Derek Carr's main targets in years past in Las Vegas. So, in 2021, Hunter's last full healthy season, he had 128 targets for that year. And if Johnson is going to be used in that type of role, that will put him only behind Kelce potentially if he receives that type of volume. So, even if he gets just a smidgen of that again at the 13th round, you can

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