Tyler Johnson is a wide receiver for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He played quarterback and defensive back in high school at Minneapolis before committing to the University of Minnesota. He didn’t produce eye-popping numbers his freshman and sophomore seasons, but all of that would change his junior season, where he would erupt on the field and vastly improve his college stats. Tyler Johnson would finish his junior year with 78 receptions for 1,169 yards and twelve touchdowns. He improved on those numbers his senior year, finishing with more receptions, yards, and touchdowns. He ended his college career with a whopping 57.2% (99th percentile) College Dominator Rating, scoring a slightly higher rating than NFL great Calvin Johnson, along with a whopping 34.5% (97% percentile) college target share.
Tyler Johnson was nominated to First Team All-Big Ten in 2018 and 2019. He had a disappointing performance at the combine where he had his hand size measured at 9” exactly, but unfortunately, his 40-yard dash was timed at 4.70. Still, his college profile was enough to get him drafted, and he was taken in the 5th round of the 2020 NFL draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He played few snaps his rookie year, recording only three games with a snap share higher than 40%. During his second season, the abrupt losses of Antonio Brown and Chris Godwin allowed for more playing time for Johnson, and he was able to produce, but not quite at the rate that he did while in college. He doubled his air yards and his deep ball targets from his rookie year, but still it only amounted to a fantasy ranking of WR101.
Tampa Bay is running it back and even brought in Russell Gage too. That means that Tyler Johnson will retreat back into an ancillary role. He remains under contract with the Buccaneers. It likely will take an injury and/or a leap to breakout in 2022.
