Charles Johnson (defensive end)

Charles Johnson (born July 10, 1986 in Hawkinsville, Georgia) is an American football defensive end for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Panthers in the third round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at Georgia.

2007 NFL Draft
Johnson was considered by some NFL scouts to be a 1st or 2nd round pick and rated as high as the 3rd best defensive end in draft by some scouting services. Charles went later then expected to the Carolina Panthers in the 3rd round with the 83rd overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft. This was considered to be a great value pick by many experts.

Carolina Panthers
During Johnson's rookie year he appeared sparingly in the 2007 season due to playing behind established veterans like Julius Peppers and Mike Rucker.

He appeared in all 16 games of the 2008 season. With Rucker retired, and a year of experience behind him Johnson showed great strides during the year totaling 25 tackles, 6 quarterback sacks, and forcing 1 fumble.

2010 was a breakout year for Charles Johnson. Through 15 games he has recorded 11.5 sacks (7th in the NFL) and 61 tackles. After the lockout was lifted, Charles Johnson was resigned to a six-year $72M ($32M guaranteed) contract.