Paris

Johnson

Johnson suffered an MCL injury in Week 15 and could be out for more than just this game against the Panthers. Kelvin Beachum should take his spot in the lineup this week. Beachum started at right tackle earlier this season while Jonah Williams was injured and has years of experience at left tackle under his belt.

Playing on the right side will be veteran Jonah Williams, who joined the Cardinals this offseason after four seasons with the Bengals. Williams, who has experience at left tackle, played right tackle for the Bengals in 2023 after the team brought in Orlando Brown to better secure Joe Burrow’s blind side. Moving Johnson to left tackle is a move that was expected to happen at some point after the team selected him with the No. 6 pick in last year’s draft. Johnson started all 17 games at right tackle last season, allowing eight sacks on 42 pressures while earning a PFF pass-blocking grade of 64.2. the former Ohio State Buckeye will have added responsibilities this season, but should be viewed as the best man for the job after Williams struggled from the left side his first three years in the league.

Johnson was one of five Cardinals rookies to put pen to paper on Thursday as the team gets ready for its rookie minicamp. Johnson (6’6/313) has experience at both guard and tackle but enters the league as a tackle. In his two years of starting experience at Ohio State, Johnson only allowed two sacks on 910 pass block snaps. While anchoring the blind side for the second-ranked scoring offense in the country, he earned numerous accolades, including first team All-American honors. Johnson has the prototypical size of a modern OT. While he didn’t do any running tests at the Combine, his 9’02” broad jump (87th%) and 29 bench reps (90th%) were both excellent marks, while his raptor-like 36.125” arms are ideal. With Kyler Murray recovering from a torn ACL, the Cardinals are clearly making protecting him a priority after securing their left tackle of the future.

The Lions acquired the 12th, 34th, and 168th picks in the trade while also giving up the 81st pick. Johnson (6’6/313) was a 5-star recruit and the top-ranked offensive tackle in the 2020 recruiting class according to 247 Sports. Despite seeing only 26 snaps in his true Freshman season, he started every game since. In his true sophomore season, he played the entire season at right guard, before moving over to left tackle for his Junior season in 2022. In his two years of starting experience, Johnson only allowed 2 sacks on 910 pass block snaps. While anchoring the blind side for the second-ranked scoring offense in the country, he earned numerous accolades such as finishing as a finalist for the Lombardi Award, a semifinalist for the Outland Trophy, winning the Armed Forces Merit Award and being named a consensus First Team All-American. Johnson has the prototypical size of a modern OT. While he didn’t do any running tests at the Combine, his 9’02” broad jump (87th%) and 29 bench reps (90th%) were both excellent marks, while his raptor-like 36.125” arms are ideal. With Kyler Murray recovering from a torn ACL, the Cardinals are clearly making protecting him a priority after securing their left tackle of the future.