Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images North America
Bolts are making moves today! Jarret Johnson is your newest linebacker. You may not know the name, but you will soon…and you will for the next four years. Read this:
Jarret Johnson, LB, Baltimore Ravens. So much attention is paid to the superstars on Baltimore’s defense — Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Haloti Ngata and Terrell Suggs — but ask those guys about the heart and soul of their unit, the true lunchpail guy, and they’ll point to JJ. He does so much dirty work to help make them shine. He sets the edge in the 3-4, is so strong against the run and can rush the passer when schemed-up to do so.
He simply makes others better. Any team needing a veteran leader to solidify its defense and bring accountability to its locker room should look at Johnson. The Ravens would hate to lose him, but have only so much money and cap room to go around. Teams routinely try to plunder the Ravens defense, offering more than Baltimore can. Johnson would love to stay as well, but someone might make him an offer he can’t refuse. I’m generally aiming for guys in their mid-20s with this column, and Johnson skews a little older (he’ll be 31 come next season). But he brings so many intangibles to the table, is so fundamentally sound and is all-motor, all the time.
[Under-the-radar players will be bargains on the market by Jason La Canfora via BFTB]
Dude is a legit football player. Kinda reminds me of a tougher version of Donnie Edwards, in that he was never the flashy guy on the defense…never any Lights Out dances… he just went out there, filled holes and made more tackles than anybody else.
-bp