Exclusive Interview With Matt Johnson

[speedkilz88]

If there was ever a guy who needed to catch a break Matt Johnson would be that guy. He needs to be on the field if he can't manage that then Dallas needs to cut him loose. I wish him the best

I prefer he avoid all breaks.

 

[TheDallasDon]

Are you Jordan Ross Neon?

 

[OhSnap]

The picture in the article has Johnson with a helmet on practicing. The picture must be worth a fortune considering how rare it is. Give the Mona Lisa a run for it's money.

I'll get you for that.

 

[OhSnap]

"He is incredibly smart and instinctive and is always around the ball. He kind of reminds me of the DB version of Sean Lee." - author

He really shines in walk-thrus.

He's always around the spare ball.

 

[NeonDeion21]

Are you Jordan Ross Neon?

I am not.

 

[xwalker]

How long do people wait in all of the major sports?

Good thing Jerry didn't waste time waiting on Jimmy Smith to get healthy.

Imagine the dire ramifications if the Cowboys had carried Smith on IR another year.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I'm content giving Johnson this season to prove or not prove something.

 

[theSHOW]

I would like to see Mike Johnson get on the fiield

 

[Bullflop]

The guy simply has too much potential to give up on him too soon. Of course, the question then becomes how long is too long?
Something tells me Johnson might be seeing his last big chance in a Dallas uniform. Let's just hope the football gods cooperate.

 

[texbumthelife]

It's hard to evaluate the guy and I know he caught a lot of flack even when playing, but I saw some real flashes in his short time on the field. He is a big time hitter and has a great nose for the ball. If he stays healthy I actually think he has a better shot than Wilcox just because he is smarter and more instinctual. But that is a huge if at this point.

 

[Aven8]

It's not like he's cost us a roster spot or anything, so if he can give us anything I'm all for it. At least he's not a converted QB, or athlete project like we've done in the past. I've also never said, if only we had Matt Johnson out there......it's a win win IMO. He gets hurt we finally dump him, or he shines and sticks it to everybody.

 

[Hoofbite]

Good thing Jerry didn't waste time waiting on Jimmy Smith to get healthy.

Imagine the dire ramifications if the Cowboys had carried Smith on IR another year.

That's not all there was to that story?

I'm talking impatience.

I'm honestly asking because I thought I had read that there was some disagreement and Jimmy won an arbitration ruling against Jerry which pretty much sealed his fate.

Not quite impatience. Sounds more like retaliation for a bruised ego.

 

[Hoofbite]

I honestly don't care who but Dallas needs someone with experience so the coaches can have a confidence in their ability to read plays.

I think they just asked for their safeties to get as deep as possible without trying to really read the play. Just don't get beat deep. They were sprinting to get deep as soon as the ball was snapped at times. Hips turned, dropping deep and as fast as possible. The result was just gaping holes in coverage on medium ranged throws.

Get someone who doesn't need to be protected like that cause they have experience and have the ability to read plays. I don't care if the player isn't even all that good because the current bunch isn't all that good and don't they have the experience to do much other than get to a spot, usually so away from the LOS that would-be 6-7 yard carries were becoming 12-15 yard gains because the safeties couldn't come down to help in time after having darted back at the snap.

Just get someone who's actually accumulated a little experience. I'm sick of waiting on project after project at the safety position. If one of them beats out a low wage vet, cool. Fine, that's okay. But don't just sit back and rely on one of the small school longshots to instantly become stating quality.

 

[basstapp]

You throw around that B+ grade like it's nothing... This entire team probably has 5-7 B+ players and you think this guy who has never stepped foot on the field can achieve it

When the cowboys drafted him, everyone said "who?" Then we read about his ball hawking ability and instincts and everyone got excited. I don't think its unreasonable to say he could be a "C-B+" safety. I honestly think Wilcox will come into his own and eventually take that spot over, but I am not going to write a guy because of two injuries.

 

[17yearsandcounting]

The guy simply has too much potential to give up on him too soon. Of course, the question then becomes how long is too long?
Something tells me Johnson might be seeing his last big chance in a Dallas uniform. Let's just hope the football gods cooperate.

Lol at potential. Did you see it when he played for bumfrick state against the future barista association of America or during one of his 2 preseason tackles?

 

[visionary]

This is great, thanks for posting.

I thought this was especially interesting:



I've never thought it through in much detail, but this must be the sort of stuff that factors into a team really liking or not liking young players coming up. If Romo says, for example, that a safety is really good at disguising a coverage in practice, that's going to mean something positive, whereas if he's consistently able to read him. And that level of information is available coming out of camp for all of the defensive players. What Dez thinks about beating a guy off the break, or whatnot. There's actually a fair about of information available there that's not going to come out in preseason games.

And, for the people who hate on Matt Johnson's skills for no particular reason, this isn't a defense of any player in any way (the article says nothing about what the players might think, either way). It's just a comment on how the team obviously acquires some of the data they use to evaluate players and more explanation of the obvious case that they know a lot more about these guys coming out of camp than we fans do.

Matt Johnsons epitaph:

"The best that never was"

 

[visionary]

If there was ever a guy who needed to catch a break Matt Johnson would be that guy. He needs to be on the field if he can't manage that then Dallas needs to cut him loose. I wish him the best

dont even mention the word "break" within ten feet of matt

 

[TheDude]

Good thing Jerry didn't waste time waiting on Jimmy Smith to get healthy.

Imagine the dire ramifications if the Cowboys had carried Smith on IR another year.

Jimmy was a highly regarded and projected player picked in the second round.

Johnson was pretty much a reach or off most fan and draftniks radar picked late in the fourth rd.

To hypothesize that mj may have a hof career based on college highlight and Dallas FO hype seems a stretch

 

[lane]

I hate the way he has been injured...he looks like a great player if he can stay healthy.

you can damn sure see he has the talent...but sadly we will probably never know what he could have been.

maybe this is the year....sure hope so.

 

[AsthmaField]

Well, the guy has a lot of physical ability and a good head on his shoulders. He was in line to win the spot last year before he got hurt. I would certainly give him one more preseason and camp to see if he can stay healthy and contribute.

Remember Landry's 3 year rule. He always gave them 3 years. If you give up after two, he said you would end up letting some good players go... but if you held on four, you were probably wasting your time. This will be Matt's third year.

Physically he is just about as good as anyone so I really hope he stays on the field.

I try to look at it like this: He will be like another rookie coming in except he has two years of watching and learning in the NFL, and specifically, one year learning and watching this Marinelli defense. Two offseasons. Two training camps. Two years in an NFL strength program.

Johnson is a smart guy and I have no doubt that he has picked up a ton since arriving. He will be way better prepared than a typical rookie. Now he doesn't have what was about the only negative he had coming out of college, which is coming from a small school and having to adjust to the NFL. Now he is better prepared mentally than any rookie, no matter what school.

Johnson has size, plenty of physical ability, speed, quickness (remember his ridiculous 3-cone times) and a knack for creating turnovers. If he stays healthy, I don't think there is much doubt that he'll win a starting spot and be a big upgrade over what we had last year... but the question is: can he stay healthy?

I'm certainly giving him one more chance to prove that he can.