Through routine, Johnson settles in
Juwan Johnson’s 6-foot-4, 225-pound frame houses plenty of room for potential. A Rivals.com four-star receiver out of Glassboro, N.J., Johnson arrived at Penn State with high expectations.
By all accounts, Johnson is meeting those expectations quickly.
Certainly, his imposing figure leaves no doubt about his ability to be a physically imposing downfield target, especially in Joe Moorhead’s explosive offense. But before Johnson could find success on the field, he had to find stability away from it.
Like many players at the college level, it took time for Johnson to come into his own at Penn State. He redshirted his freshman season and saw limited action a year ago in a reserve role, hauling in just two receptions for 70 yards on the season while mostly earning playing time on special teams.
Over the offseason though, Johnson began to blossom, as his coaches and teammates continuously listed him near the top of the list of players making the most noise in camp.
For Johnson, the key to his transformation was simple.
“I guess the biggest part is consistency; just finding a routine every day,” he said. “It’s just hard to try to find a routine. You’ve got class, you’ve got random stuff coming up any day of the week. Just finding a consistent routine in the day is just essential for you. So, I found a routine and I kept on with it.”
Nate Bauer
James Franklin said he never instructed Johnson to take a more structured approach to each day, but that it was something he set out to do on his own — a testament to the wideout’s maturity.
Instead, Franklin deferred much of the credit for Johnson’s newfound to former Penn State wide receiver Chris Godwin, assistant coach Josh Gattis and Johnson’s older brother, George, who has six years of NFL experience under his belt.
“I didn’t talk to him specifically about that,” Franklin said. “Juwan has a lot resources. Juwan is a guy who is going to ask a lot of questions. He is going to try to to grow and mature in as many areas as he possibly can. He’s a guy who understands what his strengths and weakness are and wants to work on them.”
A standout defensive end at Rutgers, George spent seven seasons in the NFL and recorded six sacks with the Lions in 2014.
He advised Juwan to be opportunistic.
“A big part of a routine, what he told me is just patience, the whole process,” Johnson said. “Everybody says, ‘Trust the process.’ And a lot of it was patience, waiting two years and all that good stuff. I had to have patience, build a routine and then work it out, and then try to explode on the scene.”
That’s exactly what Johnson did on Saturday, catching four of his five targets for 84 receiving yards, including an explosive 33-yard reception.
As the Nittany Lions continue preparing for a visit from in-state foe Pittsburgh, Johnson is approaching the matchup like it’s just another Saturday in his all-encompassing routine.
“It’s just game number two, ultimately,” Johnson said. “Just like the game we played with Akron, we treated it as one game. Pitt, this is game two ultimately. You can’t treat any game like it’s too high, or a rivalry game or whatever you want to call it. It’s just another game for us.”
