The Reese’s Senior Bowl gives some smaller school and larger school players a forum to compete on the same field and hopefully help their draft stock. One player that did just that was David Johnson out of Northern Iowa. Last year’s draft had a ton of FCS running backs and a few of them were able to contribute. Terrance West and Jerick McKinnon, in particular, are two FCS backs that had success rookie seasons in 2014. Johnson owns several records at Northern Iowa and he has shown a lot of potential to be a productive back at the next level.

At 6-foot-1, 229 pounds, Johnson is a bigger back. Despite his size, he is excellent at cutting backfield and finding the open hole. He reads defenses extremely well and when a hole opens up, he shows the ability to shoot the gap and getaway from defenders. He won’t juke defenders out, but Johnson is a powerful back that uses his full frame to knock over defenders. To tackle Johnson, defenders need to get low. He’s not quite a churner, but he has long legs that complement his powerful running style very well.

Obviously, these types of running backs are needed at the next level, but they also need to be able to catch the ball out of the backfield. At Northern Iowa, Johnson lined up all over the place. There were times when he caught passes not only from out of the backfield, but from the slot position as well. With his vision, cutback ability, and his hands, Johnson truly does have the makings of a three-down back.

Fortunately, Football Insiders was able to catch up with Johnson at the Reese’s Senior Bowl and ask him a few questions. When asked about his NFL comparison, Johnson said that his he compares himself to one of the best dual-threat runnings back in the league.

“I like to mirror my game to Matt Forte,” Johnson said.

Despite being a fun player to watch, some people have questioned his ability to perform against more talented players from bigger games.

“I want to make my name known,” said Johnson at the Senior Bowl. “I want to show that I can compete with better competition.”

Even though he’s not as good of a receiving threat as a guy like Shane Vereen, Johnson has soft hands that go with his ferocious running style. He’s likely a mid-round pick right now, but with a solid Combine, Johnson could very well be an early third-round pick. The team that drafts the Northern Iowa product will be getting a guy who was the leader rusher at his school in college. He’s a smart player that will learn an NFL playbook quickly. If he is put in a zone-blocking scheme at the next level and is given the opportunity with a lot of carries, Johnson will have immediate success.