Teammate shares observation.
All 160 pounds of Bucs rookie seventh-round pick receiver Tez Johnson are ready for his regular season debut.
But what will it look like?
The Buccaneers’ official depth chart for Sunday in Atlanta lists Kameron Johnson, not Tez Johnson, as the No. 1 punt returner. Joe assumes head coach Todd Bowles was spooked by Tez Johnson’s brutally botched punt/fumble in Preseason Week 2 at Pittsburgh, as well as an uncaught punt that cost the Bucs about 8 yards in that game.
Yes, Joe saw the huge return by Johnson, too, but Bowles is a first-do-no-harm kind of guy. Kameron Johnson might calm Bowles’ nerves as a punt returner. (Joe hears Kameron Johnson and wonders how he made the roster, but perhaps that will be clear by Sunday night.)
On offense, however, the Bucs are thin at receiver with Jalen McMillan out (neck) and Chris Godwin still recovering from his trashed ankle.
Tez Johnson doesn’t have a lot of straight-line speed but is super slippery with the ball.
Speaking in the locker room yesterday, YaYa Diaby, without being asked about Tez Johnson, noted the rookie is “getting good reps and getting in the flow with Baker \[Mayfield\]. So it’s looking pretty, pretty good.”
That caught Joe’s antennae. If Johnson’s catching balls from Mayfield in practice, that means he’s getting first-team work and the Bucs likley have a few packages for him in Atlanta.
However, with Mike Evans, Emeka Egbuka and Mayfield buddy Sterling Shepard healthy and ready, Joe doesn’t expect Johnson to get more than a couple of targets.