We continue to learn of more prospects who’ve visited the Kansas City Chiefs at 1 Arrowhead Drive ahead of the 2023 NFL draft. The latest reported pre-draft visit is a player who the team already met with extensively at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
As first reported by The Draft Network’s Ryan Fowler, the Chiefs have hosted Oregon edge rusher DJ Johnson on a pre-draft visit. Johnson had a formal visit with Kansas City at the combine, where he also posted an impressive workout. At 6-foot-4 and 260 pounds, Johnson Ran a 4.49s official 40-yard dash and 1.59s 10-yard split, which both ranked fourth among edge rushers at the event.
Completed Top 30 visits for Oregon edge DJ Johnson, per source.
• Kansas City
• Carolina
• Atlanta
• Dallas
• Cleveland
• Las VegasWill finish up his pre-draft visits in San Francisco tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/rLOsUI6T37
— Ryan Fowler (@_RyanFowler_) April 12, 2023
One downside with this prospect is that he’ll be 25 years old during his rookie season. Johnson started his career at Miami in 2017 before transferring to Oregon and sitting out in 2018. In 2019 he played defensive end before transitioning to play the tight end position. He essentially became a two-way player in 2020 and 2021. In his final collegiate season in 2022, he returned to play defense full-time, making an outsized impact for the Ducks. He led their defense with six sacks on the season along with the second-most pressures on the team with 28.
Johnson has some character concerns to work through during the pre-draft process. Most notably, he sucker-punched an Oregon State fan after the Ducks lost 38-34 back in November. That’s likely one of the reasons that the Chiefs are hosting Johnson on a visit – to get a better sense of how he’s matured since this incident and how he might fit into the team culture.
