College Football Rumors: Has Texas Longhorns freshman, Daje Johnson, cracked the starting line-up?
Those that follow Texas Longhorns football closely will tell you that one name has come up over and over again this summer as standing out among the many talented players on the 40 Acres.
That name is Daje Johnson (pronounced d’JAY), the Longhorns true freshman running back/wide receiver.
Johnson, who hails from Pflugerville, a small town just minutes outside of Austin, was originally committed to the TCU Horned Frogs, but after a late offer from the Longhorns he decided that he would rather stay close to home and play for his home-town team.
The late offer came after a highly-touted recruit decommitted from Texas, but as it turns out, that may have been the best thing to happen to Mack Brown and his team.
His senior year in high school at Pflugerville-Hendrickson, Johnson ran for 2,178 yards on 249 carries (8.7 ypc), scoring 26 rushing touchdowns. He added 28 receptions for 496 yards and 6 receiving touchdowns.
Over his last two years in high school, Johnson had 3 punt returns for touchdowns as well as 2 touchdowns off kickoffs.
The speedy athlete, who clocks a 4.34 forty, is proving that he is simply too valuable to keep on the bench.
Though the Longhorns won’t release an official depth chart until the week prior to the season-opener, reports out of Austin are surfacing, including out of Orangebloods.com, that Johnson has been so impressive this month that we very well could see him in the starting line-up as a slot receiver when the Longhorns kick off the season against the Wyoming Cowboys on September 1st.
The Texas Longhorns are stacked at running back, but they are in desperate need of some consistency and explosiveness from their wide receivers.
Texas has been lining Johnson up in the slot all summer, and from all accounts, he has been nothing less than outstanding-especially for a true freshman.
The next several days will be huge for Johnson, and with a crucial scrimmage coming up over the weekend, he has a chance to shine even more than he already has, proving that he belongs in the starting line-up.
Something tells me, Texas fans, that Daje Johnson is a name you will be hearing quite often this season.
