Penn State Tight End Theo Johnson Sets NFL Combine Record For Overall Athleticism

Georgia Bulldogs star Brock Bowers is, without question, the top tight end prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft.

But fans who hope their favorite team lands a future star at the tight end position might want to get to know the name Theo Johnson.

That’s become Johnson, a Penn State product, put in an NFL Combine performance for the record books on Friday.

The 6-foot-6, 259-pound senior ran a 4.59 40-yard dash with projected splits of 1.55 (10 yards) and 2.64 (20 yards). But that’s not all. The Ontario, Canada native also posted a 39.5-inch vertical lead and a 10-foot-5-inch broad jump.

Theo Johnson Breaks RAS Tight End Record At NFL Draft Combine

The combination of feats landed Johnson with a perfect 10 Relative Athletic Score.

The RAS, founded by Detroit Lions fan Kent Lee Platte, is “a metric that can easily and intuitively gauge a player’s athletic abilities relative to the position they play and provide tools to contrast and compare based on known measurables.”

Dumbed down: RAS measures a players athletic testing and size relative to prior NFL Combine participants. The higher the score, the better the athlete.

Numerous players have scored a perfect 10, including New York Jets (and former Penn State) tight end Zack Kuntz just last year. But Johnson’s performance ranked first out of a whopping 1,105 tight ends from 1987 to 2024.

The performance shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. Johnson was a top-100 overall recruit in the class of 2020 according to 247Sports.

But while he’s flashed at times for the Nittany Lions, he’s yet to prove he can be a consistent game-changer at the tight end position. Johnson caught just 77 balls for 938 yards and 12 touchdowns over four seasons with Penn State. Though he did haul in 34 for 371 and seven touchdowns as a senior.

If some coach can translate his incredible athleticism into more consistent player, they may well have a future superstar on their hands.