Iowa football: Jaleel Johnson just waiting for opportunity to play

There were high hopes for former Iowa football player Jaleel Johnson when he was selected in the 4th, but he has yet to see significant playing time.

The selection of Iowa football player Jaleel Johnson in the fourth round was seen as a steal by a Minnesota Vikings team that already had a strong defense. It was almost a luxury pick.

Yet, despite Johnson’s high potential, he is stuck behind two guys on Minnesota’s depth chart much like he was early in his Iowa football career.

The path to playing time was a little bit clearer though with the Hawks and once Johnson had the opportunity to start, he burst out in a big way starting every game his junior and senior season racking up 11 sacks, 15.5 tackles for loss, and 100 tackles in those final two seasons. He was also named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten his junior season and First Team All-Big Ten his senior year.

With the Vikings, that path is significantly muddier though as Johnson enters his third season with the team.

He is stuck behind two veterans who Minnesota has locked up for the next three seasons. Linval Joseph is currently two years into a 5-year/$50 million contract that will have him in Minnesota for the next three seasons and Shamar Stephens just signed a 3-year/$12.45 million deal to remain with the Vikings.

The outlook doesn’t look good for Johnson as he enters a contract year next season. With just two seasons left before he possibly hits the open market, the third year Iowa football player will want to get some playing time. So far, he has played in 21 games with just 1 start and has collected 13 tackles and .5 sacks.

However, one positive sign is the small deal Stephens signed points to this possibly being an open competition or if nothing else, he’s not on nearly as long of a rope as Joseph. Moreover, Joseph’s deal is virtually risk-free after this season. Next year, if released before March 13, Joseph would only count $2.4 million against the cap in dead money while freeing up $10.5 million.

While Joseph is still a productive player, ranking 37th overall for interior defensive lineman according to PFF, he doesn’t provide a boost in the interior pass rush. He has just 21 sacks in his 9-year career, and he had just 1 last year. This could bode well for Johnson to carve out playing time for himself in year three.

Either that or he can just beat out Stephens, who has been relatively unimpressive with just 53 tackles and 3 sacks over the last 2 seasons combined.

Year three will be huge for Jaleel Johnson. If he can’t show enough this year, he could be looking for a new home soon.