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Who was a better S in 2017, Jaquan Johnson or FSU’s Derwin James?

By Alan Rubenstein

TALLAHASSEE OCTOBER 7: Tight end Ryan Izzo
TALLAHASSEE OCTOBER 7: Tight end Ryan Izzo /
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Former Florida State safety Derwin James received a lot of hype throughout his football career. He was often compared to former Miami safety Sean Taylor, a parallel UM fans considered blasphemous. How did James and Jaquan Johnson’s 2017 seasons compare?

Comparing a player to a rival is inevitable. “My” team, player or coach is always better than yours, no matter what. James was being compared to Taylor at this time last year. How did James and Jaquan Johnson’s 2017 seasons play out? Was James truly exceptionally better than Jaquan Johnson?

The awards and accolades that James received both before and after the 2017 College Football season you would be led to believe that there is no comparison between the safeties.

James was named the Seminoles Defensive MVP by Athlon after last season. He was also named the top player in the country prior to last season by Sports Illustrated. In their 2017 season review of Florida State Athlon said about James:

"“A second-team All-American by most publications, James didn’t have the year that most expected.”"

James nonetheless was named First-team All-ACC after the season. How much of that was earned and how much was given based on reputation.

Was too much being placed on James after he was returning from an injury that cost him most of the 2016 season? James also played for a team that finished 7-6.

Related Story: Miami Hurricanes Debate: Is Derwin James the next Sean Taylor?

Johnson earned second-team All-ACC in 2016. Virginia’s Quin Blanding joined James on the first-team. Johnson shared second-team All-ACC at safety with Boston College’s Lukas Denis. He and Denis are expected to be the first-team safeties this season.

Johnson led Miami in solo tackles, assists, total tackles and forced fumbles in 2017. He tied for the team lead in interceptions and fumble recoveries.

Johnson finished the 2017 season with 96 tackles, three tackles for loss, one sack, four interceptions, including a memorable return for a touchdown against Virginia, four passes defended, two fumble recoveries and three forced fumbles.

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Buffalo Bills 2023 Free Agent Profile: Jaquan Johnson /

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    • Those stats and Johnson’s presence on the Miami defense earned him the team MVP after the season. Johnson was Miami’s only team captain last season that wasn’t a Senior. That says a lot about his importance to the team. He will be the unquestioned leader of a Miami defense in 2018 that has five Senior starters.

    James posted similar stats to Johnson in 2017. He was the 17th overall pick by the Los Angeles Chargers in this year’s NFL Draft. James had 84 total tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, one sack, two interceptions, one returned for a touchdown and 11 passes defended in 2017.

    This isn’t about which player is more talented. There is no doubting based on the NFL’s and scouts projections they think that James is. Who had the better 2017 though? Does it matter that James beat Johnson out for a spot on the All-ACC team? Was it pre-determined that was going to happen?

    It’s always difficult to evaluate players on different teams. Each player has different responsibilities within the schemes that their teams’ and particularly the defenses run.

    Speaking to the Miami Herald today, Miami safeties Coach Ephraim Banda discussed Johnson’s 2017 season.

    "“When you look at Jaquan’s stats, going off straight numbers, he had better stats than the Jim Thorpe award winner (Former Alabama and Dolphins defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick), who was the best player in the country last year…His tackles [96], interceptions [four], if you combine interceptions and fumbles [two recovered, three forced], he was elite.The biggest thing too about him is all the stuff he does in the game to help us get aligned and allow us to do things. What makes him the best safety in the country is his ability to erase mistakes. That’s your number one job as a safety.”"

    Johnson had more solo tackles, assists, total tackles, interceptions, fumble recoveries and forced fumbles. James had more tackles for loss and passes defended. Both players had one sack and an interception return for a touchdown.

    It’s tough to determine which player was better. Based on the stats, Johnson did more things for the Miami defense than James did for Florida State. Anyone that’s not biased for towards Miami or supports Florida State is going to say of course a Miami site is going to say that.

    Next: Miami Hurricanes Jaquan Johnson named nation's 3rd best S

    This by no means predicts which player will have a better NFL career. It’s merely posing the question who was better last season, James or Johnson.

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