Johnson finally finds footing with Buckeyes
Cover photo: Wide receiver Xavier Johnson eludes a tackle from Indiana defensive back Tiawan Mullen while getting a block from receiver Julian Fleming on his only run of the game for a 71-yard touchdown. Picture by Sam Fahmi/Columbus Wired.
It’s only taken Xavier Johnson five years to finally feel comfortable with his role on the team.
After snubbing scholarship offers from some mid-majors including Ohio University, FCS powerhouse North Dakota State and his hometown school, the University of Cincinnati, Johnson decided walking on for the Buckeyes was the best fit for him.
The man his teammates affectionately refer to simply as “X” has played running back in his time in a scarlet and gray jersey. He’s played wide receiver. He’s returned kickoffs. He’s been a valuable member of the special teams unit. And he’s even spent time on the defensive side of the ball, practicing at cornerback during fall camp.
Like a ping-pong ball batted back-and-forth, that’s how his career has been at Ohio State.
And Johnson will be the first one to admit, his time in Columbus hasn’t been without its ups-and-downs.
“All the way up until this year, it was kind of hard on me,” he said after Wednesday’s practice. “I was feeling like I was getting traction in one room and as soon as it felt like I was getting some traction, I would get flipped.”
He began to question whether or not he made the right decision. Ultimately, he put his faith in a higher power when it came to biding his time in order to see some action.
“I would ask, ‘why?’ But I think the Lord had a bigger plan for me and He allowed me to go through some things early. And when I didn’t falter, it was something that the Lord gave to me late, the ability and the understanding to switch back-and-forth.”
Johnson said there were times he didn’t like getting shifted around but was willing to do whatever it took to see the field and that it was God’s plan to make him as flexible as possible to learn everything he needed to succeed.
“I think that now, I’m much more comfortable with it. I’m not as scatter-brained when I have to switch and I’m looking at it from a whole different part of the (on the field) signal and now I’m thinking about the signal as a whole. So I would say that it’s definitely something that I was prepared for. Even though I didn’t like it all the time, it’s actually something I kind of enjoy now.”
He even joked that he doesn’t care where the coaches put him, he’ll always give maximum effort.
“You can put me in at tackle, you can put me in at guard, I’m going to try my darndest to get the job done.”
Now seen as one of the Scarlet and Gray’s main offensive utility guys, he’s been the rope in a tug-of-war between four different units since coming in as a walk-on from Cincinnati Summit Country Day High School in 2018.
It’s not surprising, though, that the OSU coaching staff has seen him as a guy who could pretty much be plugged and played at a few different skill positions. In his senior season with the Silver Knights, he scored five different types of touchdowns: rushing, receiving, punt return, kickoff return and an interception, which was good for a 99-yard touchdown.
Needless to say, what Buckeye Nation has seen out of him this season really shouldn’t come as a surprise as he’s only one of three Buckeyes to notch both a rushing and receiving score. His catch came in the season-opener against Notre Dame in the third quarter which gave the Buckeyes a 14-10 lead to help them secure a 21-10 win, and his run came last weekend against Indiana on a dazzling 71-yarder where he bobbed and weaved his way from one side of the field to the other, eluding several tacklers along the way.
He was also the one who recovered the Buckeyes’ first blocked punt of the year, which also came last weekend against the Hoosiers.
Receiver Emeka Egbuka and fullback/tight end Mitch Rossi are the other two that have dual TD’s on the season.
Initially, he was put at running back, where he didn’t see any snaps due to being redshirted. The next season, he saw his role immediately increased when he played in 10 games, all on special teams, logging one tackle in the Wisconsin game and had a 19-yard kickoff return late in the fourth quarter at Rutgers.
In the COVID-shortened 2020 season, he played in all eight games and saw his role increased once again as he saw time on special teams as well as toting the rock out of the backfield. He logged one special teams tackle as well as an 11-yard kick return against Rutgers and had four carries for 17 yards in the season-opener versus Nebraska.
Last season, he played at receiver but all of his stats came way of special teams. In 12 of 13 games, he tallied six tackles while returning three kickoffs for 52 yards.
This year, though, has definitely been a different story.
He’s one of only eight skill position offensive players that have played in all 10 games, he’s fourth on the team in rushing yards (94) and sixth in receptions (seven) and receiving yards (95). He also leads the team with four kickoff returns for 98 yards.
For Johnson, this season has been one he’s ultimately come to appreciate but isn’t smarmy knowing how important he’s been to the team.
“There’s a special bond and there’s a lot of people counting on me and that’s not, like, a selfish thing but it’s more of a thing like, I don’t want to let my brothers down.”
Ohio State’s next game is Saturday, Nov. 19 at Maryland (6-4, with the kickoff at 3:30 p.m. and will air on ABC.