Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Explore the possibility of trading for Duke Johnson
By Cory Kinnan
An offensive Swiss Army Knife
Johnson would provide Winston another consistent weapon in the passing game out of the backfield, having his worst season as a pro in 2018 and still managing to catch 47 passes out of the backfield and score three times. This is a staggering difference from Barber’s 20 catches for less than 100 yards in double the amount of snaps played.
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While Johnson was not used as much of a between the tackles runner in Cleveland, the former third-round pick in 2015 is the all-time leading rusher in University of Miami history, and has not been given the opportunity to make the case that he can still be a heavy workload back in the NFL.
Severely under utilized and misused by the Browns, Johnson has a boatload of talent that is looking to be unleashed in the right offensive system, and looking at running backs everywhere that Arians has been, Tampa Bay may very well be that place. Loving a back who can do it all, Arians would fall in love with Johnson and would see his offense enter a new level with the versatile back on the field.
At only 25 years old, Johnson has already proven to be one of the more talented weapons in the NFL if he is deployed correctly. While he has only tallied nearly 1,300 yards and five touchdowns as a runner, he has averaged 4.3 yards per carry. As a pass catcher out of the backfield and in the slot, Johnson has caught a massive 235 catches through four seasons for nearly 2,200 yards and eight touchdowns.