Welcome back for another edition of “Rookie Draft Prospect Faceoff”! Last week, we covered the top two slot receivers in this year’s draft: Emeka Egbuka and Luther Burden III. If you missed that article, you can check it out here. This time, I wanted to drop down a tier and look at another pair of slot guys in Xavier Restrepo and Tez Johnson. While draft capital doesn’t always suggest that the NFL views these slot receivers highly, we have plenty of recent examples to confirm these guys can be tremendous assets in fantasy football, especially in PPR formats. Guys like Amon-Ra St. Brown, Keenan Allen, Cooper Kupp, Chris Godwin, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Ladd McConkey, and Josh Downs have all primarily operated out of the slot and have been difference-makers for our dynasty teams at one point or another. If these guys fall in our rookie drafts due to the NFL letting them fall down draft boards, we could run away with some incredible value.
Restrepo and Tez should be prospects who are still available in the late second or even third round of our Superflex rookie drafts. Which of these two has a better shot at hitting our Dynasty lineups and really paying dividends for our Dynasty team? Let’s find out.
Xavier Restrepo
Restrepo played all five seasons of his college career at Miami University and finished atop the record books in a number of categories for the Hurricanes. Restrepo now holds the school record for career receptions, receiving yards, and 100+ receiving yard games. Most of Restrepo’s production came in Years 4 and 5, where he combined for 214 targets, 154 receptions, 2,229 yards, and 17 receiving touchdowns. He had just nine drops on 209 catchable passes in his career, for a drop rate of under 5%. Restrepo was a major reason the Hurricanes found so much success on offense this season, leading his team in targets, receptions, yards, and touchdowns. He was clearly QB Cameron Ward’s favorite target and safety net.
Analytically, Restrepo didn’t really blow you away with his advanced metrics in 2024. He posted a target rate of 20.8% and 2.47 yards per route run (YPRR). His 2023 season was actually much more efficient, with a target rate of 29.8% and 2.76 YPRR. Both of these numbers are borderline elite and show us that Restrepo can command real volume and produce at a high level.
From a film perspective, Restrepo isn’t going to bring you too many “WOW” plays, but he can get the job done. He’s pretty average in terms of athleticism, speed, and quickness. When I watch Restrepo’s tape, I don’t see someone who we can expect to break into the secondary and outrun a bunch of DBs at the next level. However, he does have enough quickness and manipulation in his routes to create separation in the short-to-intermediate areas where he operates. He excels against zone defenses, with a knack for finding the soft spot in the zone and sitting down for the QB to get an easy completion. Restrepo is a willing blocker and is not afraid of contact; if he doesn’t find success in the NFL, it won’t be due to a lack of toughness. He’s more of a possession receiver than a big-play threat.
Tez Johnson
Tez Johnson is another five-year player, starting his career at Troy, where he played his first three seasons. In Year 4, Johnson transferred to Oregon, continuing his success and closing out his final two seasons. Like Restrepo, Johnson’s best season came in 2023, posting nearly 1,200 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns alongside current Denver WR Troy Franklin. He had another nice season in 2024, amassing 101 targets, 82 receptions, 898 yards, and 10 touchdowns. Johnson has been a big-time producer since his sophomore year in 2021. For his career, Tez ended with some gaudy receiving totals, including over 400 targets, over 300 receptions, nearly 4,000 receiving yards, and 28 touchdowns.
Tez Johnson has been a highly efficient receiver for nearly his entire career. Here’s where Johnson finished in YPRR and targets per route run (TPRR) in each of his five seasons:
| TPRR | YPRR | |
| 2020 | 20.9% | 1.92 |
| 2021 | 29.4% | 2.27 |
| 2022 | 32.9% | 3.52 |
| 2023 | 30.9% | 3.45 |
| 2024 | 29.2% | 2.60 |
These numbers are hard to argue with. Across the board, Tez Johnson crushed it from an analytical standpoint year in and year out.
Johnson’s college tape shows that he is a twitchy athlete with impressive short-area quickness. He also has long speed and is a deep threat, keeping defenders on their toes. His combination of quickness and speed makes him a YAC threat as well, although he won’t be breaking many tackles with his diminutive stature. Don’t get me wrong – I think Tez is a physical player and welcomes contact, but at under 170 lbs, I question his play strength. Tez isn’t quite as reliable a receiver as Restrepo. I wouldn’t consider Johnson’s hands a weakness, but I saw a few concentration drops on his tape. He’s explosive off the line and consistently knows how to create separation from his defenders. I see someone who is a nuanced route runner, though he can sometimes round off his routes.
And the Winner Is….
I’m fairly confident the overwhelming majority will prefer Xavier Restrepo, but I’m sticking with my guy here and going with Tez Johnson. I will admit that the floor is lower with Tez. While we’ve seen smaller receivers make a name for themselves in the NFL in recent years, a 5’10”, 165lb frame is extremely small. This is similar to Tank Dell’s measurables, who has found success early in his NFL career, but injuries continue to set him back. I see a lot of similarities between Dell and Johnson; I just hope Johnson doesn’t have similar injury troubles at the next level.
The floor may be lower for Tez than Xavier, but I think the ceiling is also higher for Tez. He began producing at a high level much earlier than Restrepo, and analytically, he’s been consistent every single year. I also feel Johnson pops more on tape, and he’s a more versatile player. We know Restrepo will be deployed solely in the slot, but Johnson also can line up out wide, behind the line, and in motion. If utilized correctly, Johnson’s speed, quickness, and athleticism could put him in the position to see our starting lineups in Dynasty sooner than later. As mentioned earlier, I think both of these prospects will be available around the late second/early third round of our Superflex rookie drafts. I think both should also be Day 2 picks in the NFL Draft. If this is the case and I’m on the clock with both players on the board, I’m taking Tez.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article, and I hope you got some valuable information you can use for your fantasy team! If you’d like additional insight into Dynasty Football news and analysis, please follow me on Twitter at @jim_DFF. Until next time, keep grinding out there, DFF family! #DFFArmy #AlwaysBeBuilding
