Emmett Johnson led the nation in scrimmage yards per game in 2025. He won Big Ten Running Back of the Year, the first Nebraska player ever to take that award. He earned First-Team All-American honors from On3, CBS Sports, Sports Illustrated and Sporting News. He was a Maxwell Award and Doak Walker Award semifinalist. PFSN’s Ian Cummings has him going in Round 4 of the 2026 NFL Draft. The athletic testing and the frame are the explanation.
Where Will Emmett Johnson Be Drafted? Round 4 Range With Jaguars in Play
PFSN’s Ian Cummings has Johnson going to the Jacksonville Jaguars at No. 124 overall in his Day 3 mock.
The industry is split on the range. NFL.com ranks Johnson as the fourth-best running back in the 2026 draft.
Cummings frames Johnson as a future starter despite the size and testing concerns.
“Emmett Johnson was one of the breakout stars of the 2025 regular season,” Cummings wrote. “A lean but well-leveraged creator at 5’11”, 200 pounds, Johnson sets himself apart with his blistering foot speed, cutting flexibility, 360-degree vision and spatial feel, and explosiveness out of cuts.”
The Combine numbers were modest. Johnson measured 5-foot-10 and 202 pounds with 9¾-inch hands and a 30¼-inch arm length. He ran a 4.56 forty with a 1.59 10-yard split. Those are average testing numbers for the position, and they explain why a player with All-American production is sliding into Day 3 territory.
Emmett Johnson Scouting Report: Spark-Plug Utility With Future Starter Upside
The 2025 production was historic. Johnson rushed for 1,451 yards and 12 touchdowns on 251 carries while adding 46 catches for 370 yards and three more scores. He led the FBS in scrimmage yards per game (151.8) and ranked second nationally in total scrimmage yards (1,821). He accounted for 40.7 percent of Nebraska’s total yards during the regular season. His 46 receptions were the second-most ever by a Nebraska running back in a single season.
Cummings’ scouting report leans into the creator profile. “He doesn’t have the mass to churn through contact and break tackles consistently, but his constant leg action enables him to keep his balance through crowds, and he’s an expert at managing space, pressing, manipulating defenders, and capitalizing with his hyper-elite creative profile,” Cummings wrote.
Cummings’ projection: “On top of it all, he’s a competent receiving presence, too. Johnson is a future starter, with immediate spark-plug utility.”
The career arc is steady production followed by a breakout. As a redshirt freshman in 2023, Johnson appeared in 12 games and ran for 411 yards and two touchdowns on 90 carries. As a sophomore in 2024, he served as a change-of-pace back and led Nebraska with 908 all-purpose yards while ranking second on the team in rushing. The 2025 leap was the All-American season.
The biographical hook is Minnesota Mr. Football. Johnson was born and raised in Minneapolis, attended Academy of Holy Angels and was a three-star recruit per Rivals, ESPN and 247Sports. As a senior, he rushed for over 2,500 yards and 42 touchdowns and added 85 tackles and 13 tackles for loss at safety. The recruiting profile drew limited national interest. Nebraska gave him a chance.
He skipped Nebraska’s bowl game following the 2025 regular season and declared for the 2026 NFL Draft. The Jaguars at No. 124 in Cummings’ mock would put Johnson in a backfield led by Travis Etienne Jr.
The team that takes Johnson on Day 3 is getting a player whose 2025 résumé reads like a Day 2 pick.
