ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. Projects Wake Forest CB Kevin Johnson as a 1st Rounder

The NFL Draft is just under four months away, which means that naturally we need to start the mock draft season. The original NFL Draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. released his first mock draft for the 2015 NFL Draft yesterday and a player very familiar to Wake Forest fans appeared. Kiper projects that the Pittsburgh Steelers will select Wake Forest cornerback Kevin Johnson with the 22nd overall pick.

Kevin Johnson finished with Wake Forest career with 41 starts and seven interceptions. During his senior campaign he recorded 44 tackles, including 3.5 tackles for loss. He's an excellent run stopper from the cornerback position and has ideal height and length to play the position. In a league that is being taken over the passing game, it never hurts to have an excellent corner on your team.

Based on this salary cap chart, it's estimated that Johnson's signing bonus would be in the neighborhood of $4.3M, with a 4-year contract that begins at approximately $1.5 M and increased by $375,000 each season. That's pretty good work if you can get it.

If Johnson does get selected by the Steelers, he will join former high school and college teammate Michael Campanaro in the AFC North. Campanaro plays for the Baltimore Ravens and started seeing significant playing time in the team's AFC Divisional Round game against the New England Patriots. Former Wake Forest running back Josh Harris also plays for the Steelers. He started for them in their AFC Wild Card game against the Baltimore Ravens.

Blogger So Dear will continue to update as Kevin Johnson goes throughout the draft process, including the combine & team workouts.