The Tez Johnson Bomb
October 17th, 2025
How a touchdown happened.
This is why Bucs wide receivers coach Bryan McClendon is getting so many accolades.
A backup, No. 6 rookie wide receiver Tez Johnson, shouldn’t be doing what he’s accomplished. But Tez Johnson used his smarts and was clearly coached up to pull this off.
Baker Mayfield yesterday noted the 45-yard touchdown bomb to Johnson in the second half Sunday was largely because Johnson recognized the coverage and adjusted his route mid-play from a crossing route to basically a go-route.
“[It] was supposed to go across the field, good adjustment on Tez’s part,” Mayfield said. “Safety is waiting on the other side for him, so he just takes it up the middle.
“It is not necessarily a busted coverage. They had it covered well if you run the drawings on the paper, but Tez making an adjustment on the fly. That is huge for a rookie to be able to do and do it confidently in the midst of a game like that, especially in that moment.”
Former NFL linebacker Emmanuel Acho, who hosts “Speakeasy” on YouTube, while impressed with Johnson, said it was equally a smart play by Mayfield to recognize Johnson changed his route.
Acho called Mayfield’s ability to help lure defenders away from Johnson with a pump fake, “Genius.”
Baker Mayfield explained the Tez Johnson touchdown to us postgame, so I had to go find the play, and WOW. This is why Baker Mayfield is the NFL MVP right now… #AchoAnalysis| @speakeasytlkshw| @Buccaneers pic.twitter.com/xy5DJAMzUn
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) October 13, 2025