Position DT / NT Date joined 2012 High school St. Augustine Prep. Weight 142 kg | Major Business management Height 1.93 m Class Junior Name Austin Johnson | |
Date of birth (1994-05-08) May 8, 1994 (age 21) Role American football defensive lineman College Penn State Nittany Lions football Current team Penn State Nittany Lions football (#99 / Defensive lineman) Parents Austin Johnson, Tammy Johnson | ||
Place of birth Galloway, New Jersey | ||
Austin Hunter Johnson (born May 8, 1994) is an American football defensive end for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Penn State, and was drafted by the Titans in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft.
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Early life
Johnson was born in Galloway, New Jersey to parents Austin and Tammy Johnson, the third of four children – he has two older sisters and one younger sister. He attended St. Augustine College Preparatory School in Atlantic County, New Jersey with plans to play basketball in hopes of someday playing in college. He did play basketball, and earned all-state accolades his senior year. However, the football coach convinced him to try out for the football team, and he did. Subsequently, he was recruited by Penn State defensive line coach Larry Johnson, who convinced him not only to commit to Penn State, but to keep his commitment after crippling sanctions were announced in wake of the Penn State child sex abuse scandal, as well as the arrival of new coach Bill O'Brien.
College career
"An unheralded prep player from New Jersey who spent as much time on the basketball court as the football field," Johnson redshirted his freshman season, but entered training camp in 2013 eager to make an impact on the defensive line, establishing himself as a candidate to start opposite DaQuan Jones, Penn State's star defensive tackle that season. Mentored by Larry Johnson, Jones, and Jordan Hill, Austin Johnson proved himself early in the season, and earned a spot in the rotation at defensive tackle with Jones and Kyle Baublitz. At the conclusion of the 2013 season, he was named a member of the freshman all-conference teams by both ESPN.com, and the Big Ten Network.
Entering his redshirt sophomore season firmly established on the defensive line along with converted defensive end Anthony Zettel. He sought to "lead by example"; Penn State defensive coordinator Bob Shoop asserted that he was a consummate Penn State defensive tackle, drawing comparisons to Jones and Jack Crawford, among others. The Patriot News columnist Bob Flounders rated him among the most important components to Penn State's team entering the 2014 season. Early in the season, he did not compile many defensive statistics, but Penn State coach James Franklin commented, "[Johnson is] probably the most athletic 315-pound guy I've been around. The thing I like the most about him is every time I see him when he walks in the building or he's out at practice, he's got a huge smile on his face," going onto note that he has the ability to "wreck" an opponent's game. He has the ability to draw a double-team from opponents' offensive lines, which frees other defensive linemen, linebackers, and safeties to make plays at the line of scrimmage. Four games into Penn State's season, they had the best rush defense in the country, which Franklin attributed largely to the efforts of Johnson. He is majored in business administration at Penn State.
Professional career
Coming out of Penn State, the majority of scouts and analysts projected Johnson to be a second round pick. He was invited to the NFL Combine and was able to complete all the drills and positional workouts. Scouts and repersentatives from 31 NFL teams attended Penn State's pro day to evaluate Johnson, Christian Hackenberg, Jordan Lucas, Anthony Zettel, Carl Nassib, and eight other prospects. He chose to only perform positional drills. Johnson was ranked the ninth best defensive tackle by NFLDraftScout.com and ranked the 14th best defensive tackle (80th overall) by Sports Illustrated.
The Tennessee Titans selected Johnson in the second round (43rd overall) of the 2016 NFL Draft. He was the sixth defensive tackle selected and the first of five Penn State players drafted.
On May 9, 2016, the Tennessee Titans signed Johnson to a four-year, $5.66 million contract with $3.02 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $2.31 million.
He entered training camp competing for the starting nose tackle position with Al Woods and Antwaun Woods. Johnson was named the backup nose tackle to veteran Al Woods to begin the regular season.
He made his professional regular season debut in the Tennessee Titan's season opener against the Minnesota Vikings and made one tackle in the 25-16 loss. During a Week 11 matchup against the Indianapolis Colts, he made two solo tackles and was credited with half a sack on Andrew Luck, as the Titans lost 24-17. On December 18, 2016, Johnson made a season-high four combined tackles during a 19-17 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.