New Oregon receiver Tez Johnson pops out touchdowns and big plays

Tez Johnson introduced himself to Duck fans with a 63-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown in the third quarter of the Oregon Spring Game. He took a short pass, juked past the first defender and he was gone down the left sideline.

We were just debating about Tez Johnson’s impact for Oregon in on our RB/WR rankings summit (Which you can now watch on the C2C YT channel!)

I think it’s possible Will Stein can run an offense with two relevant WRs, and Tez is one along with Troy!

pic.twitter.com/zisdvfIxcV

— Jared Palmgren (@CFF_Jared) April 30, 2023

By now you know that Johnson transferred in from Troy, an FCS/Group of Five school and that he's Bo Nix's adopted brother. What's more important to know is that he's really good, really fast, electrifying and explosive.

Pro Football Focus rates him as the second-highest graded returning wide receiver in the country.

Highest graded returning Wide Receivers pic.twitter.com/Xpp3Lgp41n

— PFF College (@PFF_College) May 4, 2023

After the spring game Dan Lanning said,“Tez has speed. I think that’s shown up. He’s got burst. I think that’s shown up consistently throughout spring and it’s why he’s here.” 

Lanning kept his comments short, partly because he's trying to keep Johnson a secret, but that's going to be hard to do. Over three seasons at Troy Bo Nix's brother-from-another-mother grabbed 141 catches for 1,598 yards and eight touchdowns. He also ran 8 times for 51 yards and a touchdown (8.23 yards a carry), even passed for a 7-yard touchdown in Troy's bowl game.

At Oregon Johnson joins a loaded wide receiver room and a potent offense. The Ducks feature Troy Franklin, Johnson, Kris Hutson, Traeshon Holden, Gary Bryant, Josh Delgado and Kyler Kasper as pass catchers, and the incoming freshmen include the extremely talented Jurrion Dickey and Ashton Cozart. That's ridiculous, especially if you consider that tight end Terrance Ferguson and running backs Bucky Irving and Noah Whittington are dangerous receiving threats.

Last season Oregon ranked sixth in total offense, averaging 500.5 yards per game, 10th in scoring offense with 38.8 points per game. If the offensive line gels properly, new offensive coordinator Will Stein will look like a certified genius. Scoring will explode.

Johnson makes electrifying, efficient cuts in the open field. He's incredibly dangerous with the ball in his hands. The website nfldraftscout.com estimates his 40 time at 4.36. This spring new Oregon defensive back Khyree Jackson said after practice, "I can't forget about Tez Johnson. Fast. If you miss he will bomb you."

New Oregon WR Tez Johnson putting defenders in the spin cycle. pic.twitter.com/hNA4f8fCCf

— Cam Mellor (@CamMellor) December 30, 2022

Another exciting part of the puzzle is, Troy didn't use the Tez Dispenser particularly well. Hlothday of Addicted to Quack broke down his film (as only he can) and observed: 

In interviews, Johnson lists route-running and pass-catching as his best attributes, and he’s not wrong about that. I think he shows a lot of technical refinement in climbing up on DB’s toes, breaking off cuts to get coverage wrong-footed, and adjusting to the ball (his QB had some arm talent issues and was frequently under pressure, with the 126th worst sack rate in 2022 and not much better the year before).

Stein can design route combinations like this one with Franklin, Holden and Johnson, easy reads for Bo Nix in which any choice the defense makes gives Oregon the chance for a big play.

Plays are overrated, however. Football fans are endlessly fascinated with play designs, ever since junior high when we first scrawled out a pass route on the cover of a PeeChee or smoked our best friend in Madden. In truth, football is a game of matchups. On game day all the work on the whiteboard comes down to a simple and undefeated idea: get the ball to the fast guy in space. 

And Tez Johnson is very, very fast.