The training wheels are officially off for sophomore Iowa wide receiver Keagan Johnson. That’s if they were ever even on in the first place.
In 2021, Johnson finished as the Hawkeyes’ second-leading receiver with 352 receiving yards on 18 receptions. His 19.6 yards per catch average was tops among all Iowa players with more than one grab last season.
The Bellevue West product’s week four start against Colorado State represented the first time a true freshman wide receiver had started a game for the Hawkeyes since Ihmir Smith-Marsette did so in 2017. Johnson and Arland Bruce IV combined to become the first pair of true freshmen in the Kirk Ferentz era to start the same game in week 11 against Illinois.
Now, after one season of nine starts under his belt, Johnson enters the 2022 season with the expectations of being one of Iowa’s primary pass catchers and helping improve a passing offense that finished ranked just 109th nationally.
“Yeah, in the spring, I wasn’t out there, but, just observing and, you know, we have a few new guys, and then we have a few new guys helping coach. I feel like we’re trying to make those changes so we can be a more efficient, effective passing offense this year. I think we’re trying to change a few things up and I’m excited to see how we look this year. I’m confident that we can be better than we were last year,” Johnson told Hawk Central‘s Chad Leistikow.
After sitting out and rehabbing throughout the spring, the 6-foot-1 wide receiver feels like he’s back fully healthy and he’s actually put on some weight, too.
“I didn’t really want to push it and, you know, risk anything that far out. Really just rehabbing through the spring and I’ve been participating in everything this summer. I’m back 100 percent with the team and I should be ready to go.
“I feel like I’m more explosive right now. I put on six more pounds, so just got a bit stronger. Obviously, what you’re trying to do every offseason, you know, come back in better shape than you were the year prior. I’m confident where my body is at, and I’m just looking forward to another fun year,” Johnson said.
Charlie Jones and Tyrone Tracy Jr. both left this offseason to Purdue. Johnson wasn’t concerned about what that means for he and the Hawkeyes’ collective strength at wide receiver.
“Yeah, receiving room is definitely slimmer. We lost a few, but I feel like we have enough to produce more than what we did last year. Honestly, I’m not too worried, because I’m confident in the guys that we have in our room and I think we all have really good camaraderie. We’re just looking forward to having a good camp, so we can enter the season confident, ready to go,” Johnson said.
In fact, after the initial shock of one of his former roommates leaving wore off, it’s fair to say that Johnson is fully prepared for the challenge of replacing that lost production.
“Yeah, at first, we’re like—he lived with me and Arland—so, we’re like, ‘Ah, it sucks. I feel like we lost a brother and just a great guy.’ When you have to move on with it, it’s just, all of us have bigger roles, bigger duties. Charlie brought a lot to this team in a lot of different aspects of special teams and offense. I think right now we just have to fill those roles. Me and Arland being younger guys, we didn’t know how big our role was going to be coming in last year. Now, it’s like our time, and I think we’re both just looking forward to stepping up and fulfilling that challenge,” Johnson said with HawkeyeReport‘s Tom Kakert.
Of course, everyone wants to know how the quarterback situation is looking. While the real heart of the quarterback battle is just taking shape, Johnson likes the approach he’s seen from all of the Hawkeyes’ quarterbacks.
“Right now, we’re doing, we call it skills and drills. I haven’t been out there for them, so I’ve been able to just watch and I feel like all the quarterbacks are progressing pretty good. Obviously, it’s like a competition, so I think every guy out there is trying to give it their all, especially on each rep.
“Yeah, but we haven’t really entered camp yet, so like as far as a quarterback race and who’s going to play, who’s going to be out there week one, I really couldn’t tell you because there’s still a lot in the air and there’s a lot of days ahead before we play that first game. I think right now all the quarterbacks have the right mindset, though, and I think at the end of the day we all just want to see a better result on the field than we saw last year with just the whole offense in general. We just want to produce better and be more efficient,” Johnson said.
Kakert also asked if Johnson might help out in the kickoff return department. It’s something Johnson hasn’t campaigned for yet, but an opportunity he would happily embrace.
“We have a lot of guys on this team who I think could be good at punt return or kick return. If that’s a role that he asks me to fill, then I’m all for it,” Johnson said.
Whether or not kickoff returns are in his future, fans are anxiously awaiting the sophomore encores from both Johnson and Bruce IV.
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