Kentucky cornerback visits with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
By Cory Kinnan
One week ahead of the deadline to get all of their top-30 official visits, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers remain busy by hosting cornerback Lonnie Johnson.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers not only met with pass rusher Josh Allen from the University of Kentucky yesterday for an official visit, but also with his Wildcat teammate cornerback Lonnie Johnson. The Buccaneers must complete all of their visits by next week, and they remain busy in order to accomplish that goal.
Johnson started two years at the University of Kentucky and was a crucial part of the Wildcats’ run towards an SEC championship this past season that fell just short. In his two seasons as one of the starting cornerbacks, Johnson tallied 64 tackles, three tackles behind the line of scrimmage, one sack, and one interception. He also knocked down an additional nine passes and forced one fumble while at Kentucky.
At the combine, Johnson measured in at nearly 6’2 and 213 pounds with over 32 inch arms, giving him the size to develop into a lockdown cornerback at the next level. In Indianapolis Johnson was clocked at 4.52 seconds on his 40 yard dash, however at his pro day he clocked in at 4.39.
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Displaying great explosion, Johnson leapt to the tune of a 38 inch vertical and over 10 feet on his broad jump. Overall, Johnson tested as a very good athlete and as a result, should hear his name called no later than the second round.
Head coach Bruce Arians has instilled his confidence into returning cornerbacks Vernon Hargreaves and Carlton Davis, but as draft season is upon us, it is hard to tell what is truth and what is smokescreen. If the Buccaneers draft Johnson, it could be assumed that Hargreaves would permanently move to the nickel corner spot, while Davis and Johnson play outside the numbers.
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Tampa Bay is covering all of their bases and doing due diligence to prepare for any circumstance that could be presented to them on draft day. In order to obtain the services of Johnson, they will most likely need to utilize the 39th pick in the draft. However, if the Buccaneers trade back in the draft, they could pick up another second round pick later on.