Mhari Johnson

Physical Profile

Listed 6-3 and roughly 262 pounds as a senior, now carrying 286 on Alabama's roster — a 20-plus-pound jump in under a year that changes his positional math. At 6-3 he lacks the length and frame most staffs want from a true stand-up edge, but he is dense through the hips and lower half with the anchor to two-gap, which is why he profiles better as a base end/4i than as a wide-nine rusher. The body type is closer to a heavy strong-side end than an outside linebacker, and the weight he added suggests Alabama sees him inside the tackle box. No verified combine or camp testing numbers surfaced — he committed early and skipped the summer circuit, so there is no independent athletic data to check the film against.

Play Style

A downhill, physical front player who wins with pad level and power rather than bend. He plays with heavy hands and a low center of gravity, controls the offensive tackle's chest, and works to disengage rather than run the arc — his sacks come from collapsing the pocket and closing on a stationary quarterback more than from beating a tackle to the edge. Motor shows up in the strip-and-recover production. He is at his best in a phone-booth, two-gap-then-shed role and least effective when asked to chase laterally in space.

Strengths

• Genuine disruption production, not just tackle volume — in the Class 6A Region 7 title game against Hartselle he posted six tackles, two sacks, three quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. Two forced fumbles in one game is a punch-at-the-ball habit, which is a coached, transferable trait.
• Anchor and point-of-attack strength. Muscle Shoals allowed 51 points across eight games (6.4 per game) with three shutouts while he played the run-down front, and a defense that stingy is not doing it with a lineman who gets displaced.
• Positional flexibility from a real 286-pound frame — big enough to reduce inside to a three-technique on passing downs and quick enough to hold up as a 4i/5-technique, which is exactly the multiple-front usage Kane Wommack's defense asks of its ends.

Areas to Improve

• Pass-rush plan. His high school sack production is heavily power- and effort-driven; there is little evidence on film of a developed counter off the bull rush or a consistent hand-to-hand move set. Against SEC tackles, first-step-plus-effort stops being a plan.
• Weight management and conditioning at his new playing weight. He is up roughly 20-25 pounds from his recruiting listing; if that mass is not converted into functional strength he loses the burst that made him a top-300 composite player in the first place. Snap-count stamina in a rotation is the near-term test.
• Length limitations at 6-3 mean he has to win with hand placement and leverage rather than reach. Refining his first-punch timing and lockout is what separates him from being a two-down run defender.

College Projection

Redshirt-likely as a true freshman in 2026 behind an established Alabama rotation, with the early-enrollment head start giving him a January-to-August developmental jump most of his class did not get. Realistic path is special teams and heavy-package snaps in year one, meaningful rotational defensive end reps by 2027-28, and a starting 4i/strong-side end job in year three or four if the pass-rush toolbox develops. The move to 286 pounds strongly suggests Alabama recruited him as an interior-leaning base end, not as an off-the-edge rusher.

NFL Outlook

Mid-round developmental projection at this stage, and the honest read is that his draft outcome hinges entirely on the pass rush. A 6-3, 285-pound run-stuffing end with two-gap ability has a real NFL role as a rotational base end, but that archetype gets drafted on Day 3 unless he adds a legitimate interior rush win rate. His three-star grade on 247Sports' own board reflects exactly this concern. If he keeps the athleticism he showed at 262 while playing at 290, he becomes a Day 2 conversation; if the weight makes him a two-down player, he is a priority free agent or late-round pick.

Best Fit

Alabama is a defensible fit rather than a convenient one — Wommack's multiple, odd-front-leaning scheme uses 4i and 5-technique ends who two-gap and reduce inside on obvious passing downs, which matches his skill set better than a four-down, wide-nine attacking front would. Any program running a 3-4/multiple base with a heavy-end body type maximizes him; a Cover-2, upfield-only defensive line scheme asking him to win the edge one-on-one would waste his strengths and expose his length.