SS Jeron Johnson May Start This Week for Seattle Seahawks

By Connor Frederickson on October 11, 2014

News broke this week that All-Pro strong safety Kam Chancellor is battling another hip injury and is officially listed as questionable for the Seattle Seahawks‘ game against the Dallas Cowboys.

Today the team announced that they have promoted safety Steven Terrell from the practice squad, indicating that Chancellor may not be available for Sunday. This is not his first injury this season, as he is coming back from offseason hip surgery and also has bone spurs in his ankle. While this is a big blow to Seattle’s secondary, they have a backup safety who could start on many teams in Jeron Johnson to fill in.

Johnson, who went undrafted in 2011, is a fourth-year player out of Boise State University. Since being signed by the Seahawks and entering the NFL, he’s racked up 27 tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble in 35 games played as a safety and as one Seattle’s key contributors on special teams. In fact, Johnson returned a blocked punt for a touchdown the last time the Cowboys visited Seattle in 2012.

He has never started a game in his NFL career, but he was getting first-team reps in the preseason while Chancellor was recovering from hip surgery. It was important for him to get those snaps because he’s the primary backup to both Chancellor and free safety Earl Thomas. The Seahawks also think very highly of Johnson because they were able to restructure his contract so that he could stay on the team instead of looking to the draft.

Seattle’s backup safety’s physical presence is quite different from Chancellor, who is considered one of the biggest and hardest hitting safeties in the league at 6-foot-3, 232 pounds. Johnson is only 5-foot-10, 212 pounds. But don’t let Johnson’s frame fool you, as he loves to hit as well. He has great instincts and moves to the ball extremely well. He plays disciplined football. In other words, he’s technically sound and that is exactly what you want in a backup safety.

Now with Chancellor likely out and struggling through other injuries, it’s time for Johnson to utilize those reps he got in the preseason. We’ll see how he performs.

Connor Frederickson is a Seattle Seahawks Writer for www.RantSports.com. “Like” him on Facebook, follow him on Twitter @cfredrun or add him to your network on Google.