Congratulations! You're considering making the wonderful decision to draft Derrell Johnson-Koulianos! Like any responsible prospective selector, you're no doubt filled with questions about your potential draft pick. We here at Black Heart Gold Pants will try our best to answer any questions you might have.
Is this Derrell Johnson-Koulianos guy any good? What Derrell Johnson-Koulianos guy? We have no idea what you are talking about. We've never heard that name before. Oh, you mean that guy who holds just about every Iowa career receiving record? He never happened.
Six hours later in a dark alleyway, do we know anything about this guy?
OK, if there's nobody around to hear us, yeah, we know him.
Is he any good? The best receiver we've ever seen in black and gold. Four-year starter (well, kinda; we'll get to that later), holder of school records for catches and receiving yards, gifted athlete, good blocker and route runner, fearless over the middle of the field, never gave less than everything he had when he was playing.
So why is he still available in the sixth round? DJK has less-than-ideal size (5'11", 200) for an NFL wideout, and he won't be a deep threat at the next level (4.43-4.59 40 times), so unless you're going to put him in the slot and throw him slant routes all day, it's hard to figure where he'll fit in cookie-cutter NFL schemes. A team like New England or Miami, with the offensive creativity to use DJK's versatility, could be a good match. In any case, there are on-field issues. And there are the off-field issues.
Yeah, about that... During December pre-bowl practices, he was arrested for possession and some other drug-related charges. While initial reports indicated DJK was keeping a small Medicap pharmacy in his bedroom, all but one of the charges (a misdemeanor marijuana possession) were dropped, and the one remaining charge was deferred. The case, as big as it was at the time it broke, is essentially done, and the punishment is served. Nevertheless, he was dismissed from the team, which meant he had to hold his pro day off campus and wear a Utah helmet in an all-star game appearance. The whole thing was quite untoward.
What about his relationship with Ferentz? Look, the subject of DJK's relationship with Kirk Ferentz has been analyzed and discussed to the point that we don't even want to talk about it anymore. As a thumbnail sketch for the uninitiated, DJK likes to talk. Ferentz didn't particularly like some of the words that came out of his mouth. There was the infamous muzzle Ferentz put on DJK, prohibiting him from talking to the press as a senior. There was a benching for wearing sunglasses during an interview. There was a benching for a smartass remark made during practice. There was a benching for motivation. There were benchings for reasons we'll never know. Dude was benched for his last game at Iowa. Suffice it to say, they didn't see eye to eye. Maybe DJK should have adjusted his personality to meet Ferentz's expectations. Maybe Ferentz was too hard on the kid. Regardless, it was a mess for three years. We love them both, but we're sort of glad the drama's gone.
So would you draft him for your team? I'm a Vikings fan. DJK crushed Minnesota constantly. I'd take him in a heartbeat.