Former Penn State football CB suffers injury at the Senior Bowl

The Penn State football team received a surprise transfer ahead of the 2021 season from South Carolina cornerback Johnny Dixon. He saw limited playing time but was thrust into the starting lineup in 2022. Dixon shined with the opportunity and played well in 2023 as well. Now, he is attacking his NFL career down in Mobile, AL, as Dixon is among several Nittany Lions competing at the 2024 Senior Bowl. However, his week was cut short due to injury.

Former Penn State football CB suffers injury at the Senior Bowl

Johnny Dixon was a three-star prospect in the 2019 recruiting class. He made his original commitment to South Carolina and played there for two seasons. Then, he played out the rest of his college football career with the Penn State football team. Dixon chose to opt out of the Peach Bowl against Ole Miss to prepare for the NFL Draft.

Part of his NFL Draft prep was participating in the Senior Bowl to showcase his skills in front of scouts. Unfortunately, Dixon suffered an injury that cut his week short.

According to Lance Zierlein and Eric Edholm in their 2024 Senior Bowl Day 2 Standouts post they stated, “Other injuries from Wednesday’s practice sessions included Penn State CB Johnny Dixon, who suffered a glute injury. Although Dixon’s injury is not considered serious, requiring only stretching and icing, he was set to finish up his team interviews on Wednesday night and leave Mobile, ending his week.”

Theo Johnson has massive potential

Dixon is not the only Nittany Lion down in Mobile. One of this week’s risers includes tight end Theo Johnson. When he declared for the NFL Draft many fans wondered if he was ready for the next level. It’s clear now that he’s competing against top competition that he is more than ready for the NFL.

Trevor Sikkema from PFF wrote earlier this week, “Johnson brings a lot of size to the tight end position at 6-foot-6 and 255 pounds. He has a huge catch radius, which comes in handy when catching passes over the middle. He recorded two drops in each of the past three seasons, but his reception rate on catchable throws improved every year and was up to 94.1% in 2023. If he can show off good explosiveness and make the most of that catch radius on vertical routes this week, he could be a riser in a malleable tight end class beyond Brock Bowers and Ja’Tavion Sanders.”

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