Breaking Down the Tape
Reviewing Top Tier RBs Eligible for the 2008 NFL Draft

I'd like to break down the tape of one top tier running back per week each of the next 12 weeks. I'll do this by watching one of their games and commenting on their play in that game, including fakes and blocking assignments, as well as their NFL prospects. My schedule for this feature is as follows:

9/1 - James Davis, Clemson vs. Florida State
9/8 - Steve Slaton, West Virginia vs. Marshall
9/15 - Jonathan Stewart, Oregon vs. Fresno State
9/22 - Mike Hart, Michigan vs. Penn State
9/27 - Ian Johnson, Boise State vs. Southern Mississippi
10/6 - Jamaal Charles, Texas vs. Oklahoma
10/13 - Darren McFadden, Arkansas vs. Auburn
10/20 - Rashard Mendenhall, Illinois vs. Michigan
10/27 - Ray Rice, Rutgers vs. West Virginia
11/3 - Matt Forte, Tulane vs. Tulsa
11/10 - Marlon Lucky, Nebraska vs. Kansas State
11/17 - Tashard Choice, Georgia Tech vs. North Carolina
11/23 - Felix Jones, Arkansas vs. LSU
11/24 - Dantrell Savage, Oklahoma State vs. Oklahoma

Obviously all of the defenses these players play will not be equal, but I still think we can get a good approximation of the skill sets that each of these running backs will bring to the NFL. This list also could be affected by injuries to the players and I will try to juggle it to fit everyone in if that occurs.

Ian Johnson - Jr. - Boise State
Jersey: #41
Wt: 194 Ht: 5’11”
Age on 9/1/2008: 22.95
My Pre-Season Rank: #9
My Current Rank: #11

Tony Nowak's Take:
After redshirting in 2004, Johnson was a relatively anonymous part of a crowded RBBC in 2005. However, he separated himself from the pack last season and excelled as the feature runner on his way to posting 277-1,713-25, the greatest season by a RB in school history. The AP Third Team All-American led DI-A in scoring and was second in rushing as a key part of the Broncos fairy tale season that ended with striking a major blow for all mid-majors in their defeat of Oklahoma.

Although he plays on a fast track on Boise State's infamous blue turf and has decent speed, Johnson's running style is classic mudder. He grounds out the tough yards, bouncing off arm tackles and dragging defenders downfield despite unexceptional size. Johnson runs with an outstanding natural forward lean complimented with excellent balance and vision. The passing game is about the only area he really needs to show improvement in to help his draft stock. In the limited times he caught a pass, he catches the ball with his body too much. Up front, the team only lost C Jadon Dailey, so he should benefit from running behind mostly the same OLine again this year. The surprising success of Johnson and the team last season means he will not be overlooked this season.

Stats (from ESPN):

Breaking Down the Tape:

1st Play - 1st Quarter - 14:52 - Run Fake
Johnson fakes a run up the middle; the pass is complete to the right side; Johnson hustles downfield to attempt to make a block for the WR, but doesn't get a chance to make a block

2nd Play - 1st Quarter - 14:09 - Run Middle
Johnson takes the handoff and goes up the middle; follows his blocker, who gets stuck at the LOS; no hole to go through and Johnson goes down with minimum gain; looked like he could have gone outside there

3rd Play - 1st Quarter - 13:28 - Pass Block
Johnson stays in to pass block and does a very nice job picking up a blitzing defender; the pass is completed for a TD

4th Play - 1st Quarter - 10:14 - Run Left
Johnson never really gets the handoff and fumbles it; gets back on it, losing several yards; looked to be his fault

5th Play - 1st Quarter - 9:33 - Pass Block
Johnson stays in to pass block; with no defender to engage, he heads in to a pass pattern; pass is complete down field

6th Play - 1st Quarter - 9:16 - Run Middle
Johnson takes the handoff and heads up the middle; nothing there at all and he stops to try to find something, which gets him buried by defenders

7th Play - 1st Quarter - 8:44 - Pass Route
Johnson heads into the short left flat on a pass pattern; QB ends up running and Johnson doesn't really make much of an effort to help block

8th Play - 1st Quarter - 8:03 - Run Left
Johnson heads left with the ball; makes a quick sidestep to avoid some congestion in the backfield and then turns into a hole at the LOS; does a decent job keeping his shoulders forward and picking up the first down

9th Play - 1st Quarter - 7:36 - Run Right
Johnson starts in the backfield, then splits out left; goes in motion and takes the hand off on an end around right; makes a couple of slow cuts, with long strides, before heading upfield; gets a couple of yards

10th Play - 1st Quarter - 6:38 - Run Middle
Johnson heads up the middle; bounces it outside the tackle when there is no hole, but takes awhile to do so; does a nice job picking up steam and lowers his shoulder to punish a defender at the end of the run; this looks like a pretty good run, but at the next level I think he would have lost 2-3 yards

11th Play - 1st Quarter - 5:59 - Run Middle
Johnson takes the hand off and heads up the middle; makes a cutback into the hole, but gears down too much; fights for a couple of yards at the end of the run

12th Play - 1st Quarter - 5:24 - Run Fake
Johnson fakes the handoff; pass is complete for a TD

13th Play - 1st Quarter - 3:25 - Run Left
Johnson takes the pitch and heads left; really rounds off his cut upfield and looks slow doing it; gets through the LOS but then gets knocked around like a pinball as he's tackled

14th Play - 1st Quarter - 2:47 - Pass Catch
Johnson stays in as if to block and the peels off in the flat; nice catch on the toss; makes a nice stop and go move to burn two defenders; his move was slow and exaggerated, but it worked; shows some speed after that to turn the corner and make some yardage but looks like he is laboring to go that fast

15th Play - 1st Quarter - 2:37 - Run Middle
Johnson goes right up the middle; nothing there and he falls forward for a couple; doesn't really show a lot of power when he runs

16th Play - 1st Quarter - 1:44 - Run Fake
Johnson fakes the handoff and goes into the pattern; the throw is completed over his head downfield

17th Play - 1st Quarter - 0:37 - Pass Route
Johnson goes into the flat on a pass route; throw is intercepted downfield

18th Play - 2nd Quarter - 12:06 - Pass Block
Johnson stays in to pass block; helps the OT on the right edge of the pocket; their defender knocks down the pass attempt

19th Play - 2nd Quarter - 9:12 - Pass Route
Johnson goes out into a pass pattern; throw is complete downfield near him

20th Play - 2nd Quarter - 8:49 - Run Fake
Johnson is part of a play action pass; doesn't really sell the fake very well but the ball is complete far downfield

21st Play - 2nd Quarter - 8:40 - Run Middle
Johnson takes the direct snap and heads up the middle; takes awhile to get to the LOS; seems to take a lot of unnecessary steps; gets a couple of yards, but again, doesn't really run with power

22nd Play - 2nd Quarter - 8:06 - Run Middle - TD
Johnson takes the handoff and heads up the middle; there is nice hole there; he uses a nice stiff arm just past the LOS and keeps his balance as the defender brushes him and then he runs into the endzone; nice job keeping his balance and getting to the endzone there

23rd Play - 2nd Quarter - 7:11 - Run Left
Johnson takes the pitch and heads wide left; shows some decent speed to the corner, but then gears way down to make a cut upfield; manages to get several more yards, but the cut was really quite slow and probably cost him some yardage

24th Play - 2nd Quarter - 6:28 - Run Left - TD
Johnsone takes the pitch and heads wide left; shows good speed to get to the corner; is able to round the corner without gearing down much; shows decent speed and some nice vision to run inside of a down field block and get into the endzone; nice run

25th Play - 2nd Quarter - 0:51 - Pass Block
Johnson stays in to pass block and does a nice job engaging a defender; QB is sacked, but not by Johnson's man

26th Play - 2nd Quarter - 0:11 - Run Right
Johnson takes the handoff and goes right; makes a slow but successful juke at the LOS to get to the outside; runs to the corner and gets several more yards

27th Play - 3rd Quarter - 10:53 - Run Fake
Fake handoff to Johnson, who then goes out into a pass pattern. Throw incomplete deep left.

28th Play - 3rd Quarter - 10:46 - Run Middle
Johnson takes the handoff and heads toward the middle of the line; hesitates looking for a hole; when none appears he tries lowering his shoulders but he only makes it back to the line of scrimmage

29th Play - 3rd Quarter - 10:07 - Pass Catch
Johnson goes into the left flat after the snap; pass is thrown to him; makes a nice catch on a lower throw; turns well and starts sprinting downfield; runs away from another defender; somehow makes a defender miss you was just standing there, really the defender froze for some reason more than Johnson put on any move; does a nice job cutting inside of a WR block to then cut down the sideline; shows his good straight line speed, finally being pushed out by a defender with an angle far downfield; a very nice play by Johnson, but there likely will be better tacklers and faster defenders at the next level

30th Play - 3rd Quarter - 9:13 - Run Left
Johnson is in the QB position and takes the direct snap before heading left; uses his wall of blockers well here, waiting for the gap to open; when it does and he gets to the second level, he bowls over a lineman in the way and bulls his way through several more defenders before being brought down; very nice run showing that he can be very effective as a straight line runner with a head of steam; also shows his physical style here, although he seems to lack some stamina as he takes himself out after this run and he missed 2 plays after his long catch and run in play 29 above; that would be a concern at the next level

31st Play - 3rd Quarter - 8:13 - Run Right - TD
Johnson takes the handoff and heads toward the middle of the LOS; shows nice vision when it is jammed up to head right and score untouched from 2 yards out

32nd Play - 3rd Quarter - 6:45 - Pass Catch
Johnson releases to the right flat at the snap and makes a nice catch on a pass partially over his shoulder; he gets up to speed quickly and heads down the right sideline with blockers; doesn't make any real moves, just runs downhill until he's shoved out of bounds after a nice gain

33rd Play - 3rd Quarter - 2:08 - Run Fake
Johnson fakes the handoff right as the pass is completed short left

34th Play - 3rd Quarter - 2:01 - Run Right
Johnson takes the handoff and heads toward the right side of the line; when he gets there, he slows down and cuts upfield, gearing down too much but eluding the tackle; takes awhile to get up to speed but has a nice open lane down the right side; does a nice job eluding a tackle from behind by slightly changing direction and then keeping the legs churing as he gets tackled; nice run

35th Play - 3rd Quarter - 0:20 - Run Fake
Handoff is faked to Johnson who then make a fantastic low block on an incoming blitzer; gives his QB time to throw the ball away; very nice job blocking here

36th Play - 3rd Quarter - 0:13 - Run Left
Johnson takes a pitch to the left on a misdirection play as everyone else goes to the right; one defender isn't fooled and makes it into the backfield; Johnson tries to slow down to change direction but takes way too long to do anything and the defender tackles him for a loss; this play is the perfect example of Johnson's problem at the next level, if you can't beat a defensive lineman to the corner, than you need to be able to make a juke fake on him back inside; but Johnson is just to limited laterally to even do that

37th Play - 4th Quarter - 12:27 - Pass Route
Johnson goes into the short middle on a pass route; pass is complete to the short right

38th Play - 4th Quarter - 11:46 - Pass Block
Johnson stays in to pass block; goes low on a defender, but is not that effective; pass is completed downfield

39th Play - 4th Quarter - 11:22 - Run Middle
Johnson takes the handoff and goes straight up the middle; nothing there so he bounces off the linemen and slides to the left where he gets tackled for a minimal gain

40th Play - 4th Quarter - 10:12 - Run Middle
Johnson takes the handoff and goes up the middle; sees nothing there and scoots to the right, picking up a couple of yards before he is tackled

41st Play - 4th Quarter - 9:09 - Run Fake
The handoff is faked to Johnson; pass is incomplete deep

42nd Play - 4th Quarter - 9:02 - Run Fake
Johnson fakes the handoff and goes left; the QB looks for a receiver downfield and then scrambles to the right down the field; now, Johnson is part of the way across the field, but he just stands there and watches the play instead of running over and trying to block for his QB

43rd Play - 4th QUarter - 8:22 - Run Left
Johnson takes the pitch and heads left on a sweep; does a nice job cutting upfield with a small angle cut when a defender is coming in from the outside; hesitates a little too much at the LOS and then hits some traffic before spinning to the left to fall forward for a couple of yards

Final Game Stats:
Johnson had 22 carries for 111 yards and 3 TDs. That's a 5.0 yard per carry average with a long run of 23 yards. He also had 3 catches for 80 yards.

Play Chart Breakdown:
43 Total Plays (78!!)
22 Runs
9 Run Fakes
5 Run Block
4 Pass Blocks
3 Pass Routes

Ian Johnson Summary:
Ian Johnson is a good college running back, but his skills do not translate well to the NFL level. He is too limited laterally, does not have very good acceleration or long speed, is not as big and powerful as is needed and seems to be lacking in stamina. He does well when he can run in a straight line making minimal moves and making a hit on a smaller defender at the end of the run. However in the NFL it is much less likely he will get the ball in very many situations where he can just run straight ahead with average speed. He isn't powerful enough to be a short yardage back in my opinion and he tends to hesitate too much to hit the hole as quickly as a short yardage back needs to hit it. He seems to catch the ball and block pretty well, but his style doesn't seem to suit a NFL 3rd down back either. I think it a long shot that Johnson makes it in the NFL unless he falls into a perfect situation. I think he should stay in school to earn his degree so he can support his lovely wife.

Rating System:
Johnson would be a 2B in the rating system if taken in the first 2 rounds, or a 2C if taken in rounds 3 or 4