Here’s something for New Orleans Saints fans to cheer about. Juwan Johnson has put in a ton of work over the years, and he’s beginning to reap the rewards. After signing with the Saints as an undrafted wide receiver out of Oregon back in 2020, Johnson converted to tight end, packed on 15 pounds of muscle, and is still running with the kick return units on special teams. He’s done a lot to help the team however he can, and now he’s consistently flashing big-play ability whenever the ball goes his way.
And he’s playing often. Johnson has logged more snaps on offense than any other tight end, wide receiver, quarterback, or running back; only starting linemen Ryan Ramczyk, Cesar Ruiz, Erik McCoy, and James Hurst (479 snaps each) have been on the field more often than Johnson (327). He’s averaging a modest 2.7 receptions and 28.9 receiving yards per game this season, but 10 of Johnson’s 19 catches have converted a first down. He’s already caught more passes and gained more yards (202) than in his first two seasons combined. The 63.3% catch rate he’s posted this year is the highest of his career.
It’s a small sample size, but you can see why the coaches are still giving him opportunities. Johnson has picked up a first down on 25 of his 36 career receptions since his 2020 rookie season, securing 6 touchdown passes along the way. His willingness to switch positions in the NFL and help out on special teams has done a lot to earn goodwill from New Orleans’ decision-makers. He’s done everything asked of him.
So is Johnson the Saints’ new TE1? Maybe. Adam Trautman’s injury muddies the picture and helps widen the gap between them if you’re just looking at total snap counts, and we’d have to parse it out further between various game situations — they use different personnel when trailing, leading, or playing with a tied score. But as far as game-by-game workloads go, here is how their assignments compared up until Trautman’s Week 6 injury:
Johnson outsnapped Trautman in each of their first three weeks, though it was close in Week 3; and Trautman took the lead in Weeks 4 and 5, but his Week 6 injury makes it a tossup. Trautman was a key player in the Taysom Hill package as an inline blocker who could execute several different assignments, and we haven’t seen Hill used as heavily in that role the last two weeks with Trautman unavailable. Right now, the Saints seem to have divided their roles pretty clearly between Johnson as a pass-catching option and Trautman as primarily a blocker. There’s some overlap, but not much, and the divide is tougher to clarify without Trautman in the lineup.
At the end of the day, pecking-order designations like TE1 or TE2 don’t really matter. So long as Johnson is executing his assignments and reaping the rewards of his work, he and his coaches and Saints fans shouldn’t be concerned about it. He’s one of a few intriguing players who will be restricted free agents in 2023, and more positive plays from Johnson will go a long way towards earning his first big NFL payday. Hopefully it happens with New Orleans.