Tag: Keyshawn Johnson

Keyshawn Johnson: Giants could be this year’s Bengals

Keyshawn Johnson offered a bold prediction this week and said the New York Giants could be this year’s Cincinnati Bengals.

Last season, the Cincinnati Bengals compiled a record of 10-7 after going just 4-11-1 a year prior. Their playoff appearance turned out to be a magical one as they rode the wave all the way to Super Bowl LVI, eventually falling to the Los Angeles Rams by a score of 23-20.

Although not quite as fruitful as the ride Cincinnati went on in 2021, there seems to be at least one NFL team that shocks the world each year. So, who might that be in 2022?

The panel of the Keyshawn, JWill and Max Show on ESPN debated exactly that earlier this week and Keyshawn Johnson had a very unexpected answer: the New York Giants.

“Your New York Giants, Max. They could shock some people,” Johnson said. “We don’t know Brian Daboll as a head coach, but we also know him as a quarterback — I guess so called whisperer. He fixed Josh Allen. First couple of years Josh Allen in Buffalo struggled a little bit, but then all of a sudden he caught fire and he’s been doing well. (He) got a few MVP votes a year ago. He wasn’t the reason the Kansas City Chiefs beat them in the end and went to the AFC Championship Game. We’ll see if Danny Dimes (Jones) and Saquon Barkley can all of a sudden live up to what their billing was when they were drafted. We’ll find out.”

Johnson also pounded the drum a bit for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The problem with the Giants is that they’re still in the early stages of rebuilding under general manager Joe Schoen. Their roster is thin in a variety of areas and unless they can find sustained health, they won’t be able to overcome the loss of key players.

Still, it’s hope season and Johnson’s optimism will certainly provide some for Giants fans who long for the days of competence.

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Jay Williams: Klay Thompson might dealing with more than a shooting slump

Klay Thompson hasn’t been shooting very well in the 2022 NBA Finals. Is he in a shooting slump, or is this something more?

Is Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson in a shooting slump? Or could he really be in a new stage of his career? One national analyst certainly thinks so. ESPN’s Jay Williams said as such on a Tuesday episode of the Keyshawn, JWill, & Max Show.

Williams suggested Klay’s poor shooting nights throughout the playoffs aren’t just a player fighting through a slump. Instead, he offered Thompson may simply be a different player at this stage of his career. His “heavy legs” and hanging shots on the front rim is proof positive of a new version of Klay Thompson. Williams suggested he needs to change his style of play as a result, especially in the face of Boston’s exceptional defense.

Through two games in the NBA Finals, Thompson is shooting just 30.3% from the field and an icy 26.7% from three. The former All-Star missed nearly 31 months of playing time due to consecutive leg injuries, and finally returned to action in January of this year.

See what Williams, Johnson, and Kellerman had to see about Klay here:

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Keyshawn Johnson believes Urban Meyer could end up at Texas

Johnson believes Texas is the most likely landing spot for the former national championship-winning coach.

Urban Meyer is back on the coaching market after a short-lived NFL stint with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Continue reading “Keyshawn Johnson believes Urban Meyer could end up at Texas”

Keyshawn Johnson really, really doesn’t like Notre Dame

It’s like watching a train wreck you just can’t look away from…

Sometimes I’ll ponder to myself or with other Notre Dame fans about what we’d like USC to be.  With a national head coaching search in full-go mode since September, the Trojans have a massive hire they’ll be making in the next few weeks.

Related: 2021 College Football Coaching Tracker

Part of me thinks it’d be awesome to have Notre Dame and USC both be great at the same time for years and years, since it’s been decades since that was the case.  I also think of Matt Zemek who runs Trojans Wire and who I had a blast going to Notre Dame-USC memory with earlier this year, and think how he deserves to cover a football team that’s actually worth watching.

Then on the Wednesday morning before Thanksgiving I scroll through Twitter and find Keyshawn Johnson to quickly talk sense back into me as he reminded me why I’d forever like to USC trip over themselves and not make bowl games.

Related: Notre Dame’s updated path to CFP

Johnson, the former USC All-American, now works on ESPN Radio’s morning show with Max Kellerman and Jay Williams that you’d have to guarantee me a check in order to tune into.

Anyway, the gang was talking about potential College Football Playoff teams on Wednesday and Johnson shared the following well thought-out point:

I know some parts of Notre Dame Twitter are real upset with Johnson for what he said but I actually appreciate it.  Plenty out there will claim to have no bias against Notre Dame but then craft incredibly dumb arguments to try and single the Irish out negatively.  At least Johnson just gives it to us straight and doesn’t try hide from his dislike.

Related: Notre Dame’s updated national bowl projections

I however have no idea what Notre Dame ever did to Johnson to make him feel that way…

College football head coaching tracker

 

Former NFL star, current analyst is not sold on Lawrence

A former NFL star and current ESPN analyst isn’t sold on Trevor Lawrence right now. Keyshawn Johnson, a Super Bowl champion and three-time Pro Bowl receiver, talked about Lawrence on NFL Live this week and gave his thoughts on why he feels Lawrence …

A former NFL star and current ESPN analyst isn’t sold on Trevor Lawrence right now.

Keyshawn Johnson, a Super Bowl champion and three-time Pro Bowl receiver, talked about Lawrence on NFL Live this week and gave his thoughts on why he feels Lawrence has been overhyped to this point in his rookie season with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

“I don’t mind where Trevor Lawrence is right now as a rookie. He is certainly growing and getting better each week,” Johnson said. “But this whole putting him in ‘once-in-a-lifetime, generational quarterback’ … give me some damn wins. That’s all I care about. Because those type of guys, they win football games. So, you talk about Ja’Marr Chase as a wide receiver, as the fifth pick, he’s helping his team win games. You can tell me all about, ‘He’s learning, he’s climbing the pocket, he’s looking great, he’s sliding, he’s doing all those things.’ Help me win games.”

Through six games this season, Lawrence has completed 59.7 percent of his passes for 1,465 yards and seven touchdowns with eight interceptions while also rushing for 121 yards and two more scores.

Lawrence earned his first NFL win this past Sunday in London, completing 25-of-41 passes for 319 yards and a touchdown to help Jacksonville defeat the Miami Dolphins, 23-20, and snap the Jags’ 20-game losing streak dating back to last season.

Johnson compared Lawrence to fellow rookie signal-callers Justin Fields and Mac Jones, saying Fields is helping the Chicago Bears (3-3) win and Jones is putting the New England Patriots (2-4) in position to win.

“Yes, he did a good job in London,” Johnson said of Lawrence. “They beat Miami. He delivered the football in sync. He’s getting better. His interceptions are down. No question about it. But don’t take him and keep pushing him up. Because Justin Fields is helping his team win. Mac Jones is certainly putting his team in position to help them win, and the New England Patriots don’t have as much talent as we think they have. Not at all.”

ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky fired back at Johnson, pointing out that the Dallas Cowboys had a 1-15 record in Troy Aikman’s rookie season and Peyton Manning went 3-13 in his rookie year with the Indianapolis Colts.

But Johnson didn’t back down from his opinion on Lawrence and even went as far to say he believes two or maybe even three of the other quarterbacks in this year’s NFL Draft class could have gone No. 1 overall instead of Lawrence.

“Ain’t no way,” Orlovsky said. “Not through six weeks this season. It’s not close.”

“I want quarterbacks that’s going to help my team win, not hype,” Johnson responded. “That’s all I’m saying.”

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Keyshawn Johnson rips ‘used car salesman’ Jon Gruden: ‘He’s just always been a fraud to me’

The ESPN Radio host and former Bucs WR slammed Gruden.

Keyshawn Johnson won a Super Bowl with Jon Gruden as his head coach.

Even before a New York Times report landed on Monday night revealing a long list of racist, misogynistic and remarks he made in emails going back a decade, Johnson deemed him a “bad person” on his ESPN Radio show.

And on Tuesday morning, in the wake of Gruden resigning and the NFL world reacting, he went in once again.

“He’s just always been a fraud to me,” Johnson said. “From day one he’s been a used car salesman and people bought it.”

“I also saw through who he was through the journey of getting a championship,” he added, telling an anecdote after he and Gruden won Super Bowl XXXVII.

Here were his comments on Monday morning:

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Keyshawn Johnson says Texans QB Tyrod Taylor has just had ‘tough breaks’

ESPN analyst Keyshawn Johnson says that Houston Texans quarterback Tyrod Taylor has just had some “tough breaks” in the past few seasons.

Tyrod Taylor is on his third team since the Buffalo Bills decided to upgrade at quarterback following the 2017 season, their only playoff-qualifying season since 1999.

Even though Taylor was the starter for 14 of those games, compiling an 8-6 mark, the Bills chose to get younger at quarterback and ultimately drafted Josh Allen.

Taylor went to the Cleveland Browns, and was replaced by rookie Baker Mayfield after the first three weeks of the season due to injury. In 2019, Taylor backed up Philip Rivers for his last surge with the Los Angeles Chargers, and then started one game in 2020 ahead of Justin Herbert, another rookie quarterback that supplanted Taylor due to an injury.

According to ESPN analyst Keyshawn Johnson, who joined “The Wheelhouse with Jake Asman, Cody Stoots, & Brad Kellner” Tuesday on ESPN 97.5 Houston [KFNC-FM], Taylor has just been the subject of bad timing, not necessarily poor play.

“I think Tyrod Taylor is a good quarterback,” Johnson said. “He just continues to get tough breaks, whether it was in Cleveland or recently when it was in Los Angeles with the Chargers.”

Johnson acknowledged that the same situation for a rookie quarterback to replace Taylor immediately is being setup with third-rounder Davis Mills of the Texans. However, Johnson is unsure if Mills is “the future of the Texans at the quarterback position or not.”

The Super Bowl XXXVII champion still believes in Taylor and what he can bring to a team under center at age 32.

Said Johnson: “Tyrod Taylor is a pro. He knows how to play the game, and if you’re winning and you’re out there competing, he’s giving everything that you’re asking, then they’ll sit tight and wait. If Tyrod is not taking care of business and giving you everything that you want, then you start to look for other people.”

The Texans also have quarterbacks Jeff Driskel and Deshaun Watson on the roster.

Keyshawn Johnson mourns loss of firstborn daughter Maia

The firstborn daughter of Keyshawn Johnson, Maia, has died according to the ESPN star

Keyshawn Johnson took to social media with some terrible news on Monday. The former No. 1 overall pick of the New York Jets and current ESPN star announced his first-born daughter Maia had passed away.

Her age and details about her death were unclear.

Maia was Johnson’s first-born child with ex-wife Shikiri Hightower. The two were married from 1998-2002 and also had a son Keyshawn Johnson Jr. together. Johnson also has two young children — London and Vance Johnson — with current wife Jennifer Conrad.

Johnson played for USC in 1994 and ’95 and was twice recognized as a consensus first-team All-America selection.  Johnson helped lead the Trojans to a 1996 Rose Bowl victory over Northwestern before becoming the No. 1 overall pick in the 1996 NFL Draft, selected by the New York Jets.

He also played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dallas Cowboys, and the Carolina Panthers.

2021 NFL Draft order: Ravens move back 4 spots after Week 6 win

As the only winless team in the NFL in 2020, the New York Jets currently own the 1st selection while the Baltimore Ravens moved further back

As it nears the middle of the season, the 2021 NFL Draft order is beginning to take shape. The bad teams are now measuring their need to win games against the possibility of a better draft pick, while the best teams are going all-in on getting into the postseason for the hope of playoff glory.

The events of Week 6 have seen significant movement in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Both the New York Giants and the Atlanta Falcons recorded their first wins of the season, lifting them up in the draft order. The only winless team left this season are the New York Jets, who now thanks to their 0-6 start to the season would own the first overall selection if the draft were tomorrow.

Let’s take a look at the full 2021 NFL Draft order, thanks to Draft Wire.

2021 NFL Draft order:

Selection Team Record
1 New York Jets 0-6
2 Washington Football Team 1-5
3 New York Giants 1-5
4 Jacksonville Jaguars 1-5
5 Atlanta Falcons 1-5
6 Minnesota Vikings 1-5
7 Miami Dolphins (from Houston Texans) 1-5
8 Los Angeles Chargers 1-4
9 Philadelphia Eagles 1-4-1
10 Cincinnati Bengals 1-4-1
11 Detroit Lions 2-3
12 New England Patriots 2-3
13 Denver Broncos 2-3
14 Miami Dolphins 3-3
15 Carolina Panthers 3-3
16 San Francisco 49ers 3-3
17 New Orleans Saints 3-2
18 Las Vegas Raiders 3-2
19 Dallas Cowboys 2-4
20 Cleveland Browns 4-2
21 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 4-2
22 Indianapolis Colts 4-2
23 Los Angeles Rams 4-2
24 Buffalo Bills 4-2
25 Arizona Cardinals 4-2
26 Green Bay Packers 4-1
27 Kansas City Chiefs 5-1
28 Baltimore Ravens 5-1
29 Chicago Bears 5-1
30 Pittsburgh Steelers 5-0
31 New York Jets (from Seattle Seahawks) 5-0
32 Tennessee Titans 5-0

The Jets have picked first overall twice in their history. The first player they took with the first pick in a draft was quarterback Joe Namath out of Alabama in 1965. Namath spent 13 seasons with the Jets, earning the nickname “Broadway Joe” along the way. He famously guaranteed the AFL Jets would beat the much-fancied Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, a guarantee that he and the stifling Jets defense delivered upon in one of the greatest sporting upsets of all time.

Namath still owns the Jets franchise records for most pass attempts, yards, and touchdowns, ending his time with Gang Green with 27,057 yards and 170 touchdowns from 3,655 attempts.

Namath finished his career with a one-year stint with the Los Angeles Rams. When he retired, he had passed for 27,663 yards and 173 touchdowns. But he also tossed 220 interceptions. Namath was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985.

The Jets would have to wait until 1996 before they got the chance to take the first player in a draft. The player they took when they got the chance was wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson. Johnson is one of only two wide receivers ever selected first overall, with Irvin Fryar in 1984 the other.

Johnson spent four seasons with the Jets, catching 305 passes for 4,108 yards and 31 touchdowns. He was named to the Pro Bowl in 1998 and 1999 after gaining more than 1,100 receiving yards each year. But he wasn’t always a happy camper in New York, angering the team after penning a book called “Just Give Me the Damn Ball” after his rookie season. His receptions and yards are both good for 12th all-time for the Jets.

He went on to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with whom he won a Super Bowl after the 2002 season, the Dallas Cowboys and the Carolina Panthers. All told, Johnson caught 814 passes for 10,571 yards and 64 touchdowns in his career.

The Ravens have dropped from the 24th spot last week down to No. 28 in this latest order. The Ravens have used the 28th overall selection just once in their history, and it was in their most recent draft. They used the pick in 2020 to take LSU linebacker Patrick Queen.

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Keyshawn Johnson on Thom Brennaman’s homophobic slur: ‘You’re ashamed you got caught’

The ESPN Radio host weighed in.

The reaction to Cincinnati Reds play-by-play broadcaster Thom Brennaman and the homophobic slur caught on mics includes those calling for him never to call a game ever again to Reds players supporting the LGBTQ+ community on Twitter.

For Keyshawn Johnson, part of ESPN Radio’s new morning show with Jay Williams and Zubin Mehenti, as he said, the slur “hits close to home” for a few reasons including that his daughter is part of the LGBTQ+ community.

“I understand certain people have certain values and views about what it is,” he said on Thursday morning. “If you have those values and views, then keep them to your damn self. That’s how you feel, that’s how you feel. You know what you’re ashamed of? You’re ashamed you got caught, that’s what you’re ashamed of.”

“It’s the same conversation you have when people run out there and they use the N-word and then hide behind it, they say they really didn’t mean to,” he added. “And so, I’m tired, like seriously I’m so tired of just what we continuously have to deal with every single day.”

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