Tag: Johnny Johnson III

Oregon WR Johnny Johnson III signed by Houston as undrafted free agent

Oregon Ducks wide receiver Johnny Johnson III signed with the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent following the 2022 NFL draft.

He didn’t hear his name called during the 2022 NFL Draft, but that doesn’t mean that wide receiver Johnny Johnson III won’t get a chance to prove himself at the next level.

Now that the draft is over, Johnson has been signed by the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent. He will now go through training camp with the Texans and work to earn a roster spot going into the fall.

Johnson totaled 139 receptions for 1,928 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns during his five seasons in Eugene, and his experience and craftiness should give him a realistic chance at earning at least a practice squad role for Houston during the 2022 NFL season.

Johnson was joined by a litany of other Oregon UDFA, including Verone McKinley (Miami) Anthony Brown and Devon Williams (Ravens) CJ Verdell (Colts) and George Moore (Packers).

They of course begin their pro career at the same time as Kayvon Thibodeaux, who went No. 5 overall to the New York Giants.

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Kayvon Thibodeaux leads six Ducks to be invited to the NFL combine

Six former Oregon football players have been invited to participate in the NFL combine event in Indianapolis March 1-7.

The Oregon Ducks football program has been through a lot over the course of the last two or three months, so a little bit of normalcy is welcomed.

It’s that time for the NFL combine and six Ducks have been invited to participate in the event that will be held in Indianapolis March 1-7. Led by defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux, the Ducks have a nice group of offensive and defensive stars hoping to improve their draft stock.

Among those looking to show what he can do is running back CJ Verdell. The all-conference performer was most likely a second-round draft pick before he injured his knee. Now with the combine, Verdell can show scouts that he is fully recovered and able to help a team win immediately.

Oregon WR Johnny Johnson III to participate in 2022 NFL Combine

Johnny Johnson is moving on, as we all knew. The former Oregon Ducks’ WR will be participating in the 2022 NFL Combine this spring.

We knew that veteran Oregon Ducks’ WR Johnny Johnson III would not be returning for another year in Eugene because of eligibility restrictions, but it’s nice to see the next steps in his career develop in front of him.

On Saturday morning, Johnson announced on social media that he would be attending the NFL Combine in Indianapolis later this spring, where he will look to make an impression on pro scouts and teams, convincing them to draft him in April.

Johnson had a great career with the Ducks, where he totaled 139 catches for 1,928 yards in five seasons, with 15 touchdowns. JJ3’s final season was cut short due to an unspecified leg injury in 2021, but we can hope that he will be healthy enough to participate in the combine and show what he can do at the next level.

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Injury Report: Ducks to have severely depleted roster for Alamo Bowl vs. Oklahoma

While opt-outs and transfers are one thing to consider, the Oregon Ducks will be majorly depleted due to injury in the Alamo Bowl.

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The Oregon Ducks injury list might look similar to Santa’s list this year. It’s that long.

About 30 players that began the season in unform will be missing from the action when the Ducks take the field for the Alamo Bowl Dec. 29 against Oklahoma.

Most of those players, such as tailback CJ Verdell, are nursing ailments that will keep them out. But some are those who have elected to transfer or opted out of the bowl game so their professional futures are not fouled up.

The most prominent of those opting out is defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux, who is expected to be one of the first players taken in the 2022 NFL draft. While it’s a big blow to Oregon’s defensive scheme, it wasn’t a shock to see Thibodeaux focusing on his future rather than a non-New Year’s Six bowl game.

But much of those Ducks not taking the field in San Antonio are injured and would most likely participate if they could.

Here’s a list of Ducks who saw time on the field in 2021, but won’t play in the Alamo Bowl due to an injury or unspecified reason:

Johnny Johnson III (Injury)
Sean Dollars (Injury)
Jaylen Redd (Injury)
Steve Stephens IV (Injury)
CJ Verdell (Injury)
Justin Flowe (Injury)
Bryan Addison (Not at practice/Unspecified)
Keith Brown (Injury)
Adrian Jackson (Not at practice/Unspecified)
Jackson LaDuke (Not at practice/Unspecified)
Popo Aumavae (Not at practice/Unspecified)
Patrick Herbert (Injury)
Cam McCormick (Injury)
Keyon Ware-Hudson (Injury)
Dru Mathis (Injury)

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Injuries to Oregon WRs make Mycah Pittman’s departure sting that much more

The loss of Johnny Johnson III and Jaylon Redd is crushing. Having Mycah Pittman leave in the same week makes it hurt even more.

In a matter of 5 days or so, the Oregon Ducks went from having one of the deepest wide receiver rooms in the conference to being desperately in need of any healthy bodies at the position.

On Saturday night, it became clear before the game that senior pass-catchers Johnny Johnson III and Jaylon Redd had not made the trip to Salt Lake City with the team. We had known that JJ3 was dealing with a leg injury after the Washington State game, but Redd’s absence was something new.

After the loss, Mario Cristobal confirmed that both players would be out for the rest of the season with injuries, ending their storied careers with the Ducks.

Without both Johnson and Redd in the lineup, the Ducks are suddenly lacking receivers with experience, especially now that WR Mycah Pittman Jr. has announced that he is leaving the program to focus on his mental health. In the past week, Oregon saw 308 receptions, 3,910 yards, and 33 touchdowns fly out the window.

Here is a list of receivers who are currently seeing a bulk of the playing time for the remainder of the season:

  • Devon Williams (48 career receptions)
  • Dont’e Thornton (4 career receptions)
  • Troy Franklin (11 career receptions)
  • Kris Hutson (21 career receptions)

It’s always tough to lose some of your leaders to a season-ending injury, but Oregon’s now-depleted receiving corps is also frustrating to watch because the loss of Mycah Pittman is still fresh. We don’t know the full details behind the situation. However, it has been discussed that part of his reasoning for leaving the team was due to a lack of targets in the offense, and a desire to find a team that better utilized him. Now, with two of Oregon’s top receivers out of the lineup, Pittman would have had a clear path to the top of the depth chart with a flurry of targets likely coming his way.

I completely respect his decision to leave and make decisions that he feels are best for himself, but the timing is definitely unfortunate.

As the rest of the season comes to a close, the Ducks are going to have to continue to battle these injuries and try to lean on the next-man-up philosophy. That pool of players to keep drawing from is looking pretty shallow, though, at the moment.

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BREAKING: Jaylon Redd and Johnny Johnson III both out for the season

Mario Cristobal announced Jaylon Redd and Johnny Johnson III are out for the season, leaving the WR group dangerously thin.

As if tonight didn’t get any more depressing for the Oregon Ducks following their 38-7 loss to Utah, head coach Mario Cristobal announced receivers Jaylon Redd and Johnny Johnson III are out for the entire season due to injury.

That leaves the receiving corps dangerously thin with those injuries and Mycah Pittman deciding to transfer.

Oregon now has just a few players who have catches in their career, but if there was any bright spot that came out of the loss, it’s that Devon Williams and Kris Hutson are ready to step up.

Williams had five catches for 86 yards and a touchdown and Hutson had a career-high four catches for 96 yards.

There is only one regular-season game left the schedule, with a chance for a trip to the Pac-12 Championship and a bowl game for the Ducks. However, this is a brutal blow that could potentially upend Oregon’s WR room.

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Oregon is “hopeful” Johnny Johnson III will be available vs Utah

The Ducks will need all hands on deck at Utah and they hope Johnny Johnson will be one of those hands in Salt Lake City.

Oregon is going to need all hands on deck as the Ducks prepare to travel to Salt Lake City to face Utah.

Wide receiver Johnny Johnson III was forced out of the Washington State game last week with an unspecified leg injury. Head coach Mario Cristobal said he was hopeful Johnson can play on Saturday against the Utes, but the senior is still being evaluated.

If for some reason Johnson can not make the trip, Oregon will be short-handed against a pass defense that barely allows 200 yards through the air. Being down a receiver only puts more pressure on pass-catchers such as Devon Williams, Mycah Pittman, and others.

The running game and offensive line will also need to be on point just to alleviate that pressure.

Oregon and Utah are scheduled to kick off at 4:30 p.m. PT televised nationally on ABC.

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Everything we know following Oregon’s 48-7 win over Stony Brook

Oregon did all it needed to do against an overmatched Stony Brook squad, and90/ the Ducks can now look towards Pac-12 play.

This was probably not what Oregon Ducks head coach Mario Cristobal was looking for after shocking the world in Columbus, but they got the job done.

Oregon had to fight tooth-and-nail for the majority of the first half against Football Subdivision Stony Brook, but after an explosive second half, the Ducks ended up pulling away with a 48-7 win over the Seawolves.

The Ducks found themselves up just 17-7 at halftime that saw the Seawolves pretty much hold their own against Oregon’s line on both sides of the ball. Safety Verone McKinley III managed two first-half interceptions that stifled would-be Stony Brook scoring drives.

Even though they had to do it with true freshman Ty Thompson at quarterback, the No. 4 team in the country made the necessary adjustments at the break to avoid another nailbiter.

WATCH: Anthony Brown delivers perfect TD pass to Johnny Johnson III

After a few stalled offensive drives early in the game, QB Anthony Brown delivered a perfect TD strike to Johnny Johnson III.

Just when a semi-restless Oregon Ducks fanbase was starting to prepare their tweets about wanting to see true freshman QB Ty Thompson come in and replace super-senior Anthony Brown, No. 13 stepped up and made the plays necessary.

After a few stalled drives earlier in the game, Brown closed out the first half in fashion, capped off with this pretty 34-yard touchdown pass to WR Johnny Johnson III. The ball was placed perfectly on JJ3’s back shoulder at the front pylon of the endzone, just out of reach for the defender.

On top of it being a great ball, Brown threw the pass with pressure in his face, taking a hit right after the release. While we still are hoping to see a lot more from the Oregon offense during the second half, this was enough to quite the calls for Ty Thompson, for now…

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Ducks Depth Chart Preview: Special teams can be special with starters running the show

Oregon special teams will consist of several first-stringers with speed and talent making them even more dangerous for opponents.

It used to be that the special teams were made up of second and third stringers, mostly freshmen, looking to participate on the field in any way they possibly can.

Oregon is looking to throw that notion in the garbage.

The Ducks special teams are going to consist of offensive and defensive starters looking to make that much of a difference that could turn a loss into a win thanks to either better field position or explosion plays.

Players such as starting wide receivers Mycah Pittman and Johnny Johnson III will be returning punts and kickoffs, respectively. Mykael Wright has already shown his explosion capabilities as a kick returner (ask USC) and while there is still a competition or the top kicking spot between Henry Katleman and Camden Lewis, we can at least have confidence that the Ducks have a solid option there.

But Oregon does have other world-class athletes who can pick up the slack if Pittman and/or Johnson need a break. Jaylen Redd has experience in the return game, as does Kris Hutson. Freshman Seven McGee’s speed and ability to shift through players also make him a candidate to see some time as a returner as well.

Here is our projection for the depth chart at the start of the season: