Lions select RB Ty Johnson with pick 186 in the sixth round

With the 186th pick in the sixth round of the 2019 NFL Draft, the Detroit Lions select running back Ty Johnson from Maryland.

.@T_Johns6!!! pic.twitter.com/ebkjLL6MBY

— Detroit Lions (@Lions) April 27, 2019

The Lions running back group had a lot of pieces. A starter in Kerryon Johnson, a vet in C.J. Anderson, a pass catcher in Theo Riddick, a consistent contributor on offense and special teams in Zach Zenner, but they lacked a pure speed option.

They got that speed option in spades with Johnson.

Johnson is 5-10.5, 213-pounds and runs a 4.4 flat 40-yard-dash and an elite explosion score, which is a combination of bench press and jump scores. Johnson is a threat to take it to the house as a runner, so it’s no surprise that he is also a very capable kick returner, an underrated need on the Lions roster.

Saw one positive tweet about MD RB Ty Johnson, so good excuse to post 3 plays from this 2017 game vs BC. Here he shakes off a little collision with the QB and gets outside for a big gain. Heel touched out of bounds near midfield unfortunately, but you can see how dangerous he is pic.twitter.com/5HHztoEIu1

— Justin (@afc2nfc) January 15, 2019

This is a cool story about how he learned football with his mother and is worth a few minutes of your time.

Have you heard the story about how @Lions draft pick @T_Johns6 learned the game of football?

It involves his mom and pennies, and @BTNJourney has the story. pic.twitter.com/qLpOl9KIfI

— Maryland On BTN (@MarylandOnBTN) April 27, 2019

The Lions have two remaining picks in the seventh round, picks 224 and 229.