Tag: Tyron Johnson

Report: Cowboys expected to re-sign WR Tyron Billy-Johnson

From @ToddBrock24f7: The journeyman Billy-Johnson spent the 2023 season on the Dallas practice squad and was one of the fastest Cowboys players in the building.

The Cowboys continue to reload the roster as they prepare for the next phase of offseason work, and running back Ezekiel Elliott may not be the only former Cowboy making a comeback.

The team may re-sign wide receiver Tyron Billy-Johnson following a physical, as per Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News.

Billy-Johnson, 28, spent most of the past season on the Cowboys practice squad. The journeyman has bounced around ever since joining the Texans in 2019 as an undrafted free agent; he’s been with a total of nine teams in some capacity, compiling one start in 26 career games.

The former Oklahoma State Cowboy is known for his blazing speed and, on the practice squad in Dallas, often plays the part of the opponent’s top burner for the defensive unit’s prep. Micah Parsons, in fact, when asked late last season to put together a hypothetical Cowboys-only 4×100 relay team, put Billy-Johnson on it, along with himself, KaVontae Turpin, and Brandin Cooks.

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The move would put 14 wide receivers on the 90-man roster, with speed apparently being a major point of emphasis within the group. Besides the aforementioned Turpin, Cooks, and Billy-Johnson, the room also currently features CeeDee Lamb, Jalen Tolbert, Martavis Bryant, and sixth-round draft pick Ryan Flournoy, who turned in a 4.44-second 40-yard-dash at the scouting combine in Indianapolis.

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Cowboys release Callaway after arrest, sign journeyman WR

From @ToddBrock24f7: Tyron Johnson has played with eight clubs over four seasons, logging most of his career stats with the 2020 Chargers.

Tyron Johnson is joining yet another NFL locker room. He and the Cowboys both hope that the ninth time will be a charm.

The wide receiver was among the free agents brought in Monday for a workout with the club just prior to the beginning of mandatory minicamp. He was signed shortly thereafter.

Wide receiver Antonio Callaway was released in a corresponding move. Callaway was arrested in Miami over the weekend; a warrant for driving with a suspended license was executed during a traffic stop in which Callaway was not driving.

Johnson, a 27-year-old out of Oklahoma State, went undrafted in 2019 and has been on quite the tour of the league ever since. He has one start on his résumé over 26 game appearances. He has 23 career receptions for 422 yards and three touchdowns, most of them coming with the Chargers in 2020.

Along the way, Johnson has also logged stints with Houston (three times), Buffalo, Carolina, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Cincinnati, and San Francisco.

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As per Patrik Walker of the Cowboys team website, former first-round draft pick N’Keal Harry and Lynn Bowden were the other wide receivers who worked out for Dallas coaches on Monday.

The 90-man roster reportedly stands at just 88, so more additions could still be to come.

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Davis Mills says new receiver Tyron Johnson ‘is going to help a lot’

Tyron Johnson is already making his presence felt on the #Texans’ offense in his first week with the team

The Houston Texans added receiver Tyron Johnson to their roster this week, in a move that spelled the end of Tyler Johnson’s latest stint with the team. Though the extent to which the new wideout will be utilized against the Titans is unknown, his quarterback seems to think he will be a key factor in the Texans’ game plans moving forward.

Davis Mills spoke to the media on Wednesday about what he has seen from Johnson since his signing. Mills explained that the big-play ability he has seen from his newest weapon is an intriguing prospect for Houston’s run-first offense, and may serve to keep defenses honest.

“I think he’s going to help a lot,” Mills said. “From going back and watching a little film on him and seeing him today, he’s able to take the top off a defense. He can fly. I’m excited for that, especially as we continue to develop the run game. I feel like we’ve been running downhill really well. It’s going to make defenses pack the box, and even if we show some kind of play action, they’re going to have to step up and respect the run. That will give him more time to get behind the defense, and we can lay the ball out there and get some big plays.”

It is still too early to tell what kind of role Johnson will have in the coming games, but these comments seem to indicate that Mills is ready to get him involved early and often. It will likely take a few weeks for Johnson to get acclimated to the Texans’ offensive system, but once he feels comfortable enough to see the field, fans can bet that they will see a heavy dose of the talented receiver.

Watch for chemistry to develop between Mills and Johnson over the next few weeks, and keep your eyes on the Texans’ snap counts as he works his way into Houston’s loaded receiver rotation.

Former Raiders WR Tyron Johnson catches on with Houston Texans

Days after being waived by the Raiders Tyron Johnson finds a new home with the Houston Texans

A few weeks ago, Tyron Johnson was probably looking forward to taking the same field with the Houston Texans. Though he was thinking of doing it as a member of the Raiders last Sunday.

That didn’t happen because he was waived by the team earlier this month. But just days after the Raiders’ meeting with the Texans, Johnson is taking the field with them. Only it is as a member of the Texans.

The third year receiver has been signed by the Texans and they’re hoping he can do for them what he never really was able to do for the Raiders.

“He can take the top off of the defense.” said Texans QB Davis Mills. “He can fly.”

Houston has some pretty good receivers as it is, but even without Johnson in the Raiders lineup, they were able to gash the Texans defense with the likes of Davante Adams, Hunter Renfrow, and Mack Hollins.

Being a speedy deep threat was what the Raiders hoped Johnson would be for them at one time. But in seven games between this season and last season, he wasn’t targeted once. Here’s hoping Houston is where he finds his shot at returning to put up numbers more like he did as a rookie with the Chargers in 2020.

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Texans sign receiver Tyron Johnson, waive wideout Tyler Johnson

In a somewhat bizarre move, the Texans signed and waived a pair of receivers with nearly identical names

It isn’t often that a team makes corresponding roster moves with players whose names are so similar, but the Houston Texans managed to make a doozy of a move on Tuesday afternoon with guys who happen to play the same position. It was first announced that they had signed receiver Tyron Johnson, a third-year pro out of Oklahoma State, before following up with the news that wideout Tyler Johnson, who had been with the team since late August, was waived.

The former Johnson has bounced around quite a bit since entering the league as an undrafted free agent in 2019. After initially being signed by the Texans, he played for the Buffalo Bills and Carolina Panthers as a rookie, eventually finding a short-term home with the Los Angeles Chargers through 2020. He spent last season first with the Jacksonville Jaguars and later with the Las Vegas Raiders, and stayed in Sin City until October 22nd of this year, when he was waived.

As for the latter Johnson, who was a fifth-round selection in the 2020 draft by way of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, his stint in Houston was just the second stop of his career. After playing with Tom Brady for his first two seasons in the NFL, he was eventually released in late August of 2022 and was picked up by the Texans shortly after.

Neither of these Johnsons has registered a reception through seven weeks this season, and it is unclear what the possibilities might be for their respective contributions moving forward. News of a potential claim for the receiver that Houston waived on Tuesday has not yet broken, so his future will remain uncertain for the time being.

The newest member of the Texans organization is known best for the three-touchdown campaign he put together in 2020 for the Chargers, and if he can duplicate that same impressive performance for Houston this season, Johnson might prove to be a boon for Lovie Smith’s struggling offense.

Raiders waive WR Tyron Johnson, add Albert Wilson to practice squad

Raiders cut WR Tyron Johnson

Today the Raiders made a swap at wide receiver. They waived Tyron Johnson and added veteran WR Albert Wilson to the practice squad.

Johnson made the Raiders roster out of camp over the likes of Demarcus Robinson and Keelan Cole. But he hasn’t been a big part of the offense through the first four games, so the team made a move in the hopes of getting some production.

For whatever reason, Johnson has seen just four snaps this season. Which makes you wonder why they kept him in the first place if they weren’t going to use him.

The obvious answer would seem to be special teams, on which Johnson is coming off a terrible game last week against the Broncos. First he ran into Keelan Cole on a punt return, causing him to muff it and lose a bunch of yards. Then later caused a nice punt return to be called back by an illegal block penalty.

You can see how Josh McDaniels might have been impressed enough with Wilson to sign him. This preseason with the Vikings, Wilson had two catches — both for touchdowns — against the Raiders.

Wilson doesn’t offer much on special teams. He hasn’t been a kick return specialist since 2017 and saw no snaps on special teams last season.

There hasn’t been a lot of balls to go around for the Raiders so far this season; at least not after Davante Adams, Darren Waller, and Mack Hollins.

WR Tyron Johnson top priority is proving to Raiders that he is more than just speed

Tyron Johnson knows he’s fast. It’s his ‘overall game’ that he’s working to develop.

This preseason has been hit or miss for Tyron Johnson. While he led the team in receiving in the first game, he also had a couple miscues as well, including a missed block that led to a tackle for loss and a dropped deep pass.

His two catches were big — one was a 14-yard grab on third-and-11 and the other was a 25-yard deep ball.

Those occasional big plays are what he’s known. But it’s all he’s known for. And unfortunately, the incomplete nature of his game is also what he’s known for. He is trying to change that.

“[I’ve] been a fast guy,” said Johnson. “That’s all people talk about ‘Oh, he’s fast, he’s fast’ but end of the day I just want to have the overall game as far as route running, route depth, blocking. I just want to showcase that I can do a lot more things than just speed.”

That speed is how he broke into the NFL with the Chargers in 2020. But the lack of an overall game is why he didn’t stick there.

He is fortunate, however, to be able to work with a couple of the most technically sound receivers in the league.

“It helps when I played with guys like Keenan Allen and Davante Adams,” Johnson continued. “Just taking a piece from their game to yours will shoot it up. So, at the end of the day, I just try to work on my deficiencies in the offseason. Stopping and route running. Because I know I can run fast, but at the end of the day it’s about getting open.”

Johnson notes that what makes Adams special is that he gets open without using speed. That Adams uses “deception” in the form of head faking and hip movement. Something he’s been trying to develop.

Along with some words of confidence from his head coach this training camp. Johnson got possibly his biggest vote of confidence when the team released veteran Demarcus Robinson. Thus showing they see Johnson as being among their top five receivers.

In the end, it may be all the Raiders need from Tyron is for him to stretch the field with his speed. Whether he sees the field more than just the occasional go-route will depend on if he’s able to successfully continue to develop his game.

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Where Shelton Sampson Jr. ranks among LSU five-star wide receiver signees since 2000

Where does Shelton Sampson Jr rank among the top WRs at LSU since 2000?

Brian Kelly made a big splash in the 2023 recruiting class when he landed five-star wide receiver Shelton Sampson Jr. from Baton Rouge on August 6th. Sampson measures six-foot-four and 181-pounds and ranks as the No. 4 wide receiver in the 2023 recruiting class.

All of this info begs the question, “Where does Sampson rank against every five-star wide receiver signee since 2000?” So, that is what we’re going to discover today. LSU has had ten other five-star receiver signees (excluding Sampson) since 2000.

Fun fact, only two of those receivers were not from Louisiana. (Xavier Carter, Terrance Toliver) That’s why it has been such a big deal for Brian Kelly to come in and ‘Recruit the Boot’ just check out this list of Louisiana-born talent to see why.

Raiders wide receiver corps showing more than strength at the top, but depth as well

Raiders WRs go well beyond the talent at the top. It’s plenty deep too

With the addition of Davante Adams to join Hunter Renfrow with the Raiders, they instantly had one of the best wide receiver duos in football. The third wide receiver spot is up for grabs, but increasingly that’s not looking like a weakness, but a potential strength.

One receiver who has gotten some positive mention early in camp is Mack Hollins. Josh Jacobs lauded his work ethic and intelligence, calling him “an amazing dude” while Darren Waller who called him “probably one of the top five funniest guys I’ve ever met in my life.”

You can add Davante Adams to that list.

“You can put Mack Hollins in to run a stop post,” said Adams. “He’s a bigger guy, but he can go down there and take the top off as well.”

Hollins himself isn’t buying too much into the hype around him. He sees opportunities for several receivers on the squad to see snaps.

“As I’ve learned more in this offense, I’ve learned there’s more opportunity than just Hunter and Darren [Waller] and Tay,” said Hollins. “So, that’s what’s so great about going out there. We have such a good room. Our receiver room is really competitive, like nobody has an easy, I guess the third receiver role, or third or fourth, like nobody has that shooed in, so everyday we come out and compete and try to give our best and see who can earn it.”

Another receiver who has gotten some mention has been Tyron Johnson, nicknamed T-Billy by his teammates.

“T Billy, yeah. He’s a workhorse, man,” said Adams. “He’s been running a lot of deep routes and he’s not complaining about it. He’s doing everything he can to establish himself in this offense and show the coaches what he can do. He’s already proved a lot to me.”

What’s funny about this is neither Mack Hollins nor Tyron Johnson have been viewed up to this point as the most likely to line up on the outside opposite Adams. Prior to the start of camp, the leading competitors for that role seemed to be Demarcus Robinson and Keelan Cole.

And it may ultimately end up being Robinson or Cole being named the starter and getting the bulk of the snaps. But it’s clear that there are many suitors, and even those who don’t start will be contributors.

From the outset, this group looks like it has a lot of talent top to bottom with good competition and depth throughout.

Raiders sign LB Will Compton off practice squad, elevate three others

Raiders sign LB Will Compton off practice squad, elevate three others

Just four days ago, Will Compton was signed onto the Raiders practice squad. And Saturday the team signed him to the active roster, meaning he figures to on the field for the team Sunday when they face the Chiefs in Kansas City.

Compton’s addition is vital at the moment due to the injuries to linebackers Denzel Perryman, Nick Kwiatkoski, and Patrick Onwuasor.

The veteran linebacker Compton appeared in nine games with the Raiders in 2019 where he started at middle linebacker for four games and was a key special teams contributor under interim head coach Rich Bisaccia.

“I know he understands the special teams system for sure, and he did play last year,” Bisaccia said on Wednesday. “So, I’ve been staying in touch with him as well as other guys that we kind of keep our eyes on as you go through these situations, and we felt the need for him to come in. . . Will is a MIKE linebacker by trade, so it gives us a guy that can learn the system that way. But I know he can play on special teams for us, and he ran around pretty good out there today.”

Also seeing an elevation from the practice squad for Sunday’s game were LB Javin White, WR Tyron Johnson, and RB Trey Ragas.

White obviously helps with the depth at linebacker. Running back also has depth issues with Kenyan Drake lost for the year and Jalen Richard once again on the reserve/COVID-19 list.