Johnny Holton, WR Cincinnati

Height: 6′ 5/8”
Weight: 190 lbs
Hands: 9 7/8’’
Arm: 32 7/8″
40 yard dash: 4.54(official)

NFL Comparison: Tedd Ginn, LaVon Brazill

Scouting Notes: For a guy who didn’t even play high school football, Johnny Holton has picked up the game pretty well. Deceptively fast and explosive on-field, he’s the kind of receiver defenders don’t notice until he’s breezed past them. His college numbers are kind of scattered due to injury and a transfer from JUCO to 1A, but his potential has shown in spurts, like his last 3 games at Cincinnati where he had 269 yards and 3 TDs on 7 catches. For his deceptive explosiveness on the field, he does not test explosively off of it and his 31.5-inch vertical leap is a pretty big red flag on Holton despite our grading him with one of the top on-field testing grades of all WRs at the 2016 NFL combine.

Holton’s strengths are his downfield speed and ability to separate without being terribly shifty. He’s also powerful for a lighter receiver, breaking tackles and setting blocks with ease. He’s known for being primarily a deep threat, but if you watch his JUCO tape, he was productive all over the field — which his on-field performance at the combine was indicative of. He caught everything from everywhere.

Holton still has much to learn about the game, though. He wasn’t asked to run many routes at Cincy, and he’s going to have to prove that he’s not a finesse, one-note player, as many scouts suspect. I’m not one of them though.

Fantasy Outlook: Holton’s relatively small body of work and injury history don’t make him a sexy draft pick — his 40 time may have even been faster and his vertical leap better had he not been dealing with a hamstring injury. It’s hard for me to say where he’ll fall draft-wise (he’s certainly projected by most as a late-rounder if anything), but his experience as a kick returner should help get him some run once he enters the league. Holton has all the tools to be an effective fantasy player if he can still manage to separate on-field from NFL corners who can potentially capitalize on his average agility. He’s a flier in dynasty leagues only at this time despite his great on-field performance in Indy. That could change upon finding out what team he ends up with.

From the UC Athletic Department:

2015: Saw the field in eight games, totaling 17 catches for 461 yards and five touchdowns … Made three catches for 81 yards and two touchdowns against Alabama A&M … Caught three passes for 50 yards while also returning five kicks for a total of 125 yards at Miami (Ohio) … Had two catches for 62 yards and a score versus UConn … Made three grabs for 146 yards with two touchdowns against UCF.

Combine Interview: