Start spreading the news! FSU DE Jermaine Johnson goes to Jets in 1st round

With the 26th pick in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft, Florida State defensive end Jermaine Johnson was selected Thursday night by the New York Jets.

The selection comes after an impressive lone season at FSU, during which Johnson racked up 12 sacks and won ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors.

Johnson, who becomes FSU's 46th first-round selection, played two seasons at Georgia after originally beginning his college career in junior college. He was projected in most mock drafts to go in the first 10 to 15 picks, but he eventually slid down to No. 26.

That did not seem to bother Johnson when he spoke with ESPN after the selection.

“I'm so glad the Jets came and got me," he said. “Because we are so like-minded, me and everyone else in that building. I'm excited."

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The Jets were also ecstatic about landing Johnson as one of three first-round picks.

"Big, long, explosive, he's got great athleticism and violence to his game," head coach Robert Saleh told reporters in New York. "Very smart, he's probably the most pro-ready of all the pass rushers this year in terms of having a repertoire to his game and something we can add to. Really a perfect fit for what we do defensively with our wide-nine system, putting him on an edge, getting him firing off the ball and attacking. He's really going to be a great complement to what we already have."

At FSU, Johnson registered 70 tackles, 18 tackles for loss and two forced fumbles to go with his 12 sacks. On top of that, FSU head coach Mike Norvell said, Johnson accepted an important leadership role.

“He embraced that, and I don’t know if I have seen a better display of how that carried over to the field. He’s got an unbelievable future in front of him," Norvell said. "For him to come in and do the things that he did, I can’t wait to watch him at the next level. ...

"Not only the player, the work ethic, the leader, but he’ll be remembered at Florida State for a long, long time because of what he did in this one season."

Johnson is the 13th Seminole defensive lineman picked in the first round and the 293rd player selected in the history of the NFL Draft out of FSU.

After starting his career at Independence (Kan.) Community College, also known on television as "Last Chance U," Johnson emerged as one of the top JUCO defensive ends in 2019 and signed with Georgia. In two seasons with the Bulldogs, he played in 16 games and was used primarily as a situational pass-rusher.

After an excellent 2021 season, Johnson's stock rose even higher this offseason.

First, he caused a stir during Senior Bowl practices by dominating just about every offensive tackle he went against that week. Then he put up impressive numbers at the NFL Combine, running the 40-yard dash in 4.58 seconds.

Now, Johnson heads to the NFL and becomes the first FSU first-round pick since Brian Burns in 2019.

According to FSU Sports Information, the Seminoles have had at least one pick in 39 consecutive NFL Drafts, a streak that is the eighth-longest in the country entering this year’s draft.

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