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 Chiefs Select LB Derrick Johnson in Round 1Apr 23, 2005, 2:12:40 PMDERRICK JOHNSON  LINEBACKER TEXAS 6-3 242 Picked as the top outside linebacker in college football by The Sporting News prior to the 2004 season, Derrick more than lived up to that lofty assessment. The aggressive, speedy and explosive linebacker established himself as one of the nation’s premier defensive players. He earned the Bronko Nagurski Trophy as the nation’s top defensive player and the Butkus Award (nation’s top LB). Johnson was a finalist for the Bednarik Award (nation’s top defensive player), the Lombardi Award (nation’s top lineman) and the Lott Trophy (defensive player of the year) as a senior. He was the only defensive player among the ten finalists for the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award and earned unanimous first-team All-American accolades. He was also a unanimous selection as the Big Twelve Conference Defensive Player of the Year. Derrick was a Parade All-American and Class 5A All-State selection as a senior at Waco (Tex.) High School. He recorded 170 tackles (103 solos) with six sacks, 21 stops for losses, two interceptions and five forced fumbles in his final year. He added All-State and All-District honors as a junior, posting 157 hits with four sacks, 13 stops behind the line of scrimmage, two interceptions and a pair of forced fumbles during his junior campaign. He garned All-District accolades as a sophomore after making 99 tackles and a pair of sacks. Johnson also lettered twice in basketball. He was thrust into action as a true freshman at Texas, picking up National Freshman of the Year honors from The Sporting News and Big Twelve Conference co-Freshman Defensive Player of the Year accolades in 2001. He ranked second on the team with 83 tackles (57 solos), 4.5 sacks, 13 stops for losses, nine quarrterback pressures and two fumble recoveries, despite starting only two games. The All-Big Twelve Conference first-team pick started every game at weakside outside linebacker in 2002. He led the team with 120 tackles (73 solos), 13 stops for losses, ten pressures, four interceptions and ten pass deflections. Derrick followed that year by picking up consensus All-American honors, becoming the first Texas linebacker since Jeff Leiding in 1983 to do so. The Butkus Award finalist made 125 tackles (78 solos) with a pair of sacks, 20 stops behind the line of scrimmage, three fumble recoveries, nine pass break-ups and four interceptions. Fresh off a year where he established himself as one of the nation’s premier defenders, Derrick ended his career with several national honors in 2004. Johnson worked to become Texas’ first ever Butkus Award (nation’s top LB) winner. He also became the first player since Tommy Nobis (1964-65) to earn back-to-back All-American honors for Texas. He led the team with a career-high 130 tackles (73 solos) with two sacks, 19 stops for losses, ten pressures, nine forced fumbles (broke the NCAA season-record held by Syracuse’s Dwight Freeney in 2001 and Boise State’s Quintin Mikell in 2002), eight pass deflections and an interception. Derrick concluded his Longhorns career with 40 starts in 50 games. He recorded 458 tackles (281 solos) with 10.5 sacks for minus 58 yards, 65 stops for losses of 170 yards and 39 quarterback pressures. Only Doug Shankle (478, 1978-81) and Britt Hager (499, 1984-88) registered more tackles in a career at Texas. Since the NCAA began compiling defensive tackle records beginning with the 2000 season, only Rod Davis of Southern Mississippi (526, 2000-03) Grant Wiley of West Virginia (492, 2000-03) and Dexter Reid of North Carolina 466, 2000-03) have produced more tackles in a career than Derrick. His 65 stops behind the line of scrimmage broke the old Texas all-time record of 60 by Kiki DeAyala (1979-82). It is topped only by Western Michigan’s Jason Babin (75, 2000-03) and Marshall’s Johnathan Goddard (65.5, 2001-04) on the NCAA Division 1-AA career record list. Johnson added five fumble recoveries, eleven forced fumbles, nine interceptions for 195 yards in returns and a touchdown, thirty pass deflections and a blocked kick during his time with the Longhorns. His nine interceptions established a school career-record for linebackers, surpassing the previous mark of eight by Fred Edwards (1964-66). Only Robin Sendlein (12, 1977-80) and Kenneth Sims (15, 1978-81) caused more fumbles in a career at Texas than Derrick’s eleven. His thirty pass deflections are the most ever by a Longhorns linebacker. To say that Derrick’s lofty figures came against mediocre competition would be a false statement, to say the least. In eighteen career games against Top 25 opponents, Johnson has registered 175 tackles, 4.5 sacks, 31 stops behind the line of scrimmage, nine pass deflections, four interceptions, 19 quarterback pressures, three caused fumbles and a fumble recovery. Derrick is humble, despite all of the recent awards and accolades. He is very active in UT’s community service program and serves as a mentor at local elementary schools. He recently graduated in the top third of his senior class and is active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, mentoring the younger players on the team. Johnson comes from a sports oriented family. His brother, Dwight, played defensive tackle at Baylor from 1996-99 and in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants. A cousin, Bert Emanuel, is the former Rice quarterback who played eight years in the NFL with Tampa, Atlanta and Miami. His cousins, Kevin Emanuel (defensive lineman at Florida State from 2000-03) and Ben Emanuel (senior defensive back at UCLA), also excelled in college football. 2004 SEASON Copyright NFLDraftScout.com, Powered by The Sports Xchange |
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