Monos Report: Timeless words from the legend, Jim Johnson
This season, our Jim Monos — a former NFL executive and Super Bowl champ — will bring subscribers a weekly column. This is his first of the season. One Worthy vs. Coleman debate takes him back.
Editor’s note: This season, co-host of the “Go Long Show,” former NFL executive and Super Bowl champion Jim Monos will author a weekly column: “The Monos Report.”
Monos scouted for the Philadelphia Eagles (2000- ‘04), New Orleans Saints (2005- ‘13), before taking over as the director of personnel for the Buffalo Bills (2013-2017). He has also worked in the AAF and XFL.
We are thrilled to increase Monos’ workload around here. As listeners of the podcast know, Monos is a man who’ll think outside of the box. He has conviction, too. There’s very minimal hedging when it comes to his takes. Most people in the NFL are tight-lipped when it comes to how this league works.
Now that he’s out, Monos is an open book.
He’ll be studying both the college football and NFL tape this season. Icymi, here’s his excellent “franchise quarterback handbook” ahead of last spring’s draft.
We’ll open up his first column to everyone below, and it’ll be exclusive to paid subscribers through the season.
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For 20 years I saw myself as a full-time NFL evaluator. I am now a full-time father who couldn’t be happier with that title. Now it’s time to share the stories and experiences I was fortunate enough to be around for anyone who loves football.
Watching “tape” can be an unhealthy addiction. That makes sense to anyone who has evaluated for a paycheck. You hear the cliche from coaches all the time — “ I need to see the tape first” — and it’s true. We all do.
This season I want to bring college football to the Go Long roster with the focus on quarterbacks and the upcoming NFL Draft. I’ll also be writing on NFL topics of the week. And, of course, I will have tape evaluations on the young NFL quarterbacks and rookies throughout the league.
Training camps have started so the heartbeat is alive (never really leaves) again. The scouting juices are flowing. I am a college football scout at my core so the focus will be my film evaluation of NFL Draft eligible college quarterbacks as well as small-school players who are trending to bring more college football to the Go Long team.
NFL QB talk will always be a borderline obsession of mine so weekly evaluations and thoughts will be discussed on the podcast and the “Monos Report.”
Let’s start with a pair of rookie wide receivers who sparked quite a debate locally here in Western New York…
Thought the Bills handing the Chiefs Xavier Worthy debate was done until actual games were being played but then we have the Twitter/X training camp highlight we needed. Patrick Mahomes rolled left and uncorked a ball 60 yards to Worthy for another training-camp TD.
What did we learn from that clip? Nothing.
Mahomes has incredible hip torque and launched a bomb. Seen it before. Worthy is incredibly fast. Knew that already. But what I did not realize was that because of that play the Bills have now officially missed on Keon Coleman. How could the Buffalo Bills have traded back with their playoff rival? It is not apples to apples.
Both receivers have polar-opposite skill-sets, which tells you right away the Bills are comfortable with the speed they have on the roster. Get “No. 1 receiver” out of your vocab when talking about these receivers. Both have weaknesses that typically we do not think of with No. 1 receivers. Coleman lacks top-end speed. Worthy lacks bulk and has inconsistent hands.
When the NovaCare Complex opened in 2001 for the Philadelphia Eagles, I was fortunate enough to be a newly hired northeast area scout. Dream job out of college. Even though I was tad older than a traditional 22-year-old college grad, it was still my first job out of college. Think of the movie “Van Wilder” for my college career.
What I did not know about moving from the Vet to the complex is that I would be sharing a small kitchen with the assistant coaches. That’s where the coffee is made. Anyone who has grown up in football offices knows that coaches over time acquire a bitter coffee stench on their clothes and their breath. Scouts are the same but, as scouts, we are usually by ourselves in our car and not offending the civilized.
The names of names in coaching would be walking into that kitchen: Sean McDermott, John Harbaugh, Ron Rivera, Steve Spagnuolo, David Culley, Dave Toub. List goes on, and on, but for me it was when the late-great mastermind: defensive coordinator Jim Johnson.
Soft spoken, tired, but not tired at all. A man you pay attention to when he walks in a room. You felt good if you received a quick “good morning.” His “good morning” or “how are you feeling?” was different than the mundane, always-uncomfortable office encounters. He just always looked like he was thinking about designing a blitz.
Johnson was 61 years old in 2002 when the Atlanta Falcons were visiting Philly in the divisional round of the playoffs. Did I say Atlanta? I should have said Michael Vick. Not just a regular-season Vick. The money-maker Vick. The Fresh Off Sending Brett Favre home from Lambeau Vick.
The early Monday morning encounter I had as a 27-year-old area scout stayed with me through my entire career. That morning, Johnson and I were waiting for the coffee to finish brewing. I said my normal, “Good morning, Coach.” He replied, “Good morning, Jimmy, “ and asked how I was doing (Yes, the defensive coordinator asked a know-nothing, 27-year-old how he was doing). I said, “Great coach,” and “Good luck this week.” (That is typically what I would say to any assistant on a Monday morning coffee talk).
Coach Johnson grabbed his coffee and looked at me right in the eye like he always did and said: “Jimmy, I can call the perfect defense and it may not matter.”
Bill Polian should have been as fortunate as I was to have heard that statement. The Hall of Fame GM may have thought differently about moving Lamar Jackson to wide receiver out of Louisville.
Regardless, I was so fortunate to have learned that if a player at any position can keep an all-timer up at night, that is a player I want on my team. Sounds simple, but I had my own Polian moment as the Director of Player Personnel for the Bills while scouting Mahomes. It’s very possible Mahomes would be a Buffalo Bill if just one of us (Sean McDermott & Doug Whaley as well) would have supported Terry Pegula on his thirst for Mahomes. I did not have the conviction that his rare college tape would translate to the NFL. Just read Tyler Dunne’s article at Go Long if you missed why Buffalo passed on Mahomes. There is not a defense you can call Mahomes will not find a way to beat. Nightmare.
The Eagles beat Atlanta, 20-6. The most violent game I remember. Vick is fearless. Jim Johnson is relentless. The 22-year-old that kept the 61-year-old up at night was held to 30 yards rushing with two picks (a pix-six for Bobby Taylor), three sacks and a violent Brian Dawkins making his mark. Jim Johnson was more than a Hall of Fame football coach. He was a lion-tamer.
I did not see the Coleman vs. Worthy debate going to Jim Johnson but this is why it is relevant for this debate. Coleman is going to be grown-man receiver. You know exactly who he is as a defensive coordinator. He is physical and strong to win position battles. Hands are strong and he’s natural high pointing the ball. Jimmy Graham-like in traffic. Worthy is pure speed and explosion. Can score from anywhere on the field. He is not big and not going to win with strength. He has inconsistent hands. Speed, speed, speed is what he is. The pro career of Tavon Austin always concerns me with small receviers.
Here are my grades compared. (Yes, I grade players analytically for no reason but my own.)
Overall Grown Man TD%
Coleman 25.5 14.8 22%
Worthy 32.5 11.4 6%
Nabers 47.1 29.4 15.7%
Added Malik Nabers for comparison purposes as well. This tells me that both Worthy and Coleman are impactful players. The TD percentage is what jumps out between Coleman and Worthy. The Bills in the red zone with Dalton Kincaid, Dawson Knox and Keon Coleman? You better have size if you want to mess with this Bills offense.
It could be a rare win-win for both teams in this scenario. Buffalo found their all-weather, end-zone post player and the Chiefs found their speed threat. McDermott and Reid would know better than I would if Jim Johnson would fear either one of these receivers. We know who Andy Reid traded up for though (wink, wink).
College Quarterback Breakdown
Penn State’s Drew Allar
The plate is set for success in State College. Big Ten bullies Ohio State and Michigan have unknowns at highly important positions. Buckeyes are counting on a QB from Kansas State (Will Howard) and Michigan has a first-time head coach in Sherrone Moore. If Penn State head coach James Franklin is not able to get over the top this season, then when? That is a topic for the hardcore fans in Central Pennsylvania to debate.
Not my wheelhouse but we know all know the expectations.
James Franklin was a favorite of mine when he was an assistant coach at Maryland and I was the northeast area scout for the Philadelphia Eagles. Franklin was talking about a player from Bishop McDevitt in Harrisburg, Pa he was recruiting where I graduated from as well, a talented offensive tackle named Jaimie Thomas who the Indianapolis Colts eventually drafted in 2009. Franklin knew the scout lingo when talking players and was very pro-player, which I respected.
Penn State could go ahead and give Franklin a lifelong contract. This season is his best chance to get the Big Ten title. If it does not work out, do not panic Nittany Lion administration. That would be the reality of the Penn State program. Extremely successful but hit a ceiling due to Columbus and Ann Arbor. It’s the frustrating and over-discussed college football structure that is now taking on a NFL model.
Allar Summary
The physical skill-set is strong. Can mix velocity and touch. Has a basketball player’s floater touch on deep balls and red-zone spots. Accurate in quick game and now throws to keep targets moving full speed. Touch shows up on middle screens as well. Popular route in the Penn St offense in ’23.
Like most college QBs, inconsistency in everything jumps out. Accuracy issues show up too often to ignore. Allar will get out of trouble and get what is given to him, but not a player you need to be concerned with his legs.
Here are some examples for the hardcore tape fans. Against Indiana, you have a 1st and 10, ball on PSU 43, fourth quarter. Penn State gets receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith, in man situation and he burts by Jordan Grier. Allar floats the pass where Lambert-Smith shows NFL stack ability to catch the ball in stride and finish in the endzone.
That is the NFL touch that shows up in Allar.
Against Rutgers, Allar shows the inconsistency. First play of second quarter, ball is on the Rutgers 32. Penn State’s Dante Cephas blows by Eric Rogers but Allar underthrows it. Missed touchdown. Basically a 40-yard throw that needs to be made. Accuracy and timing must be your strength if you are not beating defenses with your legs. Allar is a big, strong-armed pocket passing quarterback and underthrows are not an option.
Later in that same second quarter on third down, Allar does not like his first read against a man-free look. He does his best Rothlisberger by pump-faking twice and ends up delivering a precise seam throw to Omari Evans who was tightly covered in trail technique. Big-boy throw.
In Maryland, Allar stoked a red-zone pass to Cephas that was Jalen Brunson Floater pretty. That is the good you can’t coach. Make a TD pass look like an open three pointer and drop it on him!
The 2024 season will be defining for Allar in terms of becoming a grown man against the bullies. He needs to deliver in the pocket and not throw head-scratching interceptions. He does not have enough “big boy” throws on tape right now. Does he have the torque and flexibility athletically to be a playmaker and not just a pocket passer. Allar will need to show he is a playmaker who can elevate his weapons and not be labeled a system pocket passer. He is 20 years old.
Food
Jonnu Smith is not wrong. You can probably catch an average batch of wings in Buffalo. It happens. LeBron James has bad games. Cooks can make a bad batch of wings.
How I would phrase the wing debate is I have had incredible wings in other cities as well as Buffalo. Gene’s Haufbrau and Home Team BBQ both in Charleston, SC are ways to experience incredible wings that are not traditional hot or cajun hot. The southern fried wings at Gene’s will give you an appreciation on how to appreciate the flavor with sauce as an option but not needed. The smoked wings at Home Team are special thanks to their unique dry rub and homemade sauces.
The wings that former Bills GM Doug Whaley and myself would enjoy in our four-year run together with the Bills were at the original DBGBs. Duke’s Bohemian on Allen st was a staple. They would smoke and grill their wings. For those in the know knew the could rival any wing in Buffalo that were not hot or cajun hot.
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Good article