Bucs Rave About Kameron Johnson
August 28th, 2024
Bucs WR makes history.
There are not a bunch of 5-10 receivers from Division-II making a dent in the NFL. The league likes receivers six feet or taller.
But there seems to be something special about Bucs rookie Kameron Johnson from the first time Todd Bowles laid eyes on him in Tampa.
In an underwear football practice, Bowles said Johnson jumped out at him.
“You saw it in the spring – you saw a lot of promise in the spring,” Bowles said. And good thing for Johnson that the head coach also runs the defense and also is a former NFL safety. Wide receivers who do something tend to get his attention.
“He was quick in and out of his cuts, in and out of his routes and he has great hands,” Bowles said. “He runs like a running back, he’s quick, he’s sudden and he was very sharp.”
Of course, this was underwear football. Lots of receivers look good in underwear football because it is flag football. There’s no hitting of any sort allowed. So the rules allow for receivers to shine.
Johnson’s ability continued to flash when the pads came on which impressed Bowles even more.
“Training camp was pretty good for me actually,” Johnson joked yesterday.
Bowles loves Johnson’s versatility. In fact, Johnson bragged about how he can tackle. A backup wide receiver who tackles? That’s a man for special teams, too!
Chris Godwin said the tipoff that Johnson wasn’t your run-of-the-mill camp meat was how Johnson constantly busted his tail.
“Being a D-II college athlete, the odds are kind of stacked against you,” Godwin said of Johnson. “He worked his ass off to earn a spot, so I couldn’t be happier for him.
“Seeing how he works… It makes sense, and you can tell that from the way he tracks the ball. It’s a high level.”
Another cool element of Johnson is the Bucs never told him he made the team. Johnson followed Bucs roster junkies on Twitter who were doing sort of a backward countdown of released players.
When the roster junkies came up with the 53 by elimination, Johnson said he knew he made the Tampa Bay roster, the first player from his alma mater, Barton College (N.C.), to reach the NFL.
August 28th, 2024 at 12:15 am
Good for him and hopefully us. In the couple clips I saw of him, sudden is a good word. Fast, springy, hard worker. They might have uncovered a gem.
August 28th, 2024 at 1:14 am
Hey Joe, I’m seeing all sorts of numbers on his size, anywhere from 5′ 8″ 170lbs (which claims to be college workout numbers), to 5′ 10″ 185lb – which is a pretty big difference. In camp does he stand out as being small? I’m pretty sure those lower end numbers I see are just flat out wrong based on everything else I’m seeing – but just curious if he looks really small out there, along the lines of Thompkins.
August 28th, 2024 at 4:02 am
Rod: His Combine height and weight were 5-9 5/8, 184.
August 28th, 2024 at 4:35 am
Very happy for Kam! Love hearing how he found out he made the team. Kudos in being the first from Barton to make it in the NFL too.
August 28th, 2024 at 6:39 am
Thank you Licht.
This year and 2025 iare going to be special.
LFG!!!!!
August 28th, 2024 at 8:28 am
Happy for the kid!
August 28th, 2024 at 8:53 am
Excited to have him in the fold with McMillan and Palmer as young reserves. WR is the strength of this team without a doubt right now.
August 28th, 2024 at 9:55 am
I hope this guy can play. But this team was also fired up about Dexter Jackson from Appalachian State (he was afraid to get hit) and then tried to sell me on Jaelon Darden (he too was afraid to get hit). I am an optimistic person, but twice I bought the sell line from the Bucs and was disappointed. I need to see him on the field actually doing productive things before I buy in this time…go Kameron!
Please, if nothing else, don’t head for the sidelines immediately with the ball in your hands.
August 28th, 2024 at 10:50 am
I’mlooking forward to seeing a WR who can throw a few times a year on aWR screen, or from the RB position which he ran well from in the last game. A former QB who can get the D to bite on him as a shifty runner then take advantage with a toss to Evans, or Godwin.. TD!!
August 28th, 2024 at 6:21 pm
I remember that too Pops. Guys like Michael Morton. Mr. August. Guys like Santana Dotson. For a few regular season games the Tampa Tribine called him “Sacktana,” then he disappeared.
August 28th, 2024 at 7:00 pm
Fred: Santana Dotson had 10 sacks in his rookie year, and played 10 years in the NFL. Not saying he was great, but he didn’t disappear. Averaged about 5 sacks per season.
August 29th, 2024 at 10:00 am
Looking at his size and the way he runs routes, he is very Antonio Brown like.