Now that they won’t have Antonio Gates for the first four games of the season, the Chargers are going to have a huge hole to fill in their offense. Believe it or not, the plug might already be in place and no, it’s not Ladarius Green.
When the Chargers signed wide receiver Stevie Johnson it was met with a collective yawn from the major football media. That’s partly because the deal came on the same day the Cowboys signed defensive end Greg Hardy, touching off a national debate.
But, Johnson’s impact on his new team might be even bigger than Hardy’s.
“I don’t want to guarantee anything,” said Johnson, “but you’ll see a different player, as far as attitude goes. I feel like it’s time to level up and get that respect that I know I should be getting.”
Johnson is no stranger to feeling disrespected. A 7th-round pick from Kentucky, Johnson only played in 16 games his first two seasons with the Buffalo Bills. When he finally got his chance he took advantage of it with three straight 1,000-yard receiving seasons.
But, he admittedly slacked on his workouts and didn’t do as much as he should have to learn new head coach Doug Marrone’s system in 2013 and his production was cut almost in half.
Before the 2014 season Johnson, a Bay Area native (he attended Angelo Rodriguez High School in Fairfield, CA, just like Chargers defensive back Jason Verrett), was traded to the San Francisco 49ers … where his numbers got even worse. Johnson feels he was misused by the 49ers coaching staff. Now that proverbial chip that was on his shoulder early in his career is back.
“Besides in Buffalo, where it took me a couple of years to play,” said Johnson, “I kind of got that back. Going home to San Francisco and them not playing me how I know I should have and they know, the people around me, the players know I should have been playing … yeah, I definitely feel that fire inside.”
Johnson is the consummate slot receiver. He’s historically been at his best when he’s lined up inside instead of outside. Last year with the Niners Johnson only ran 69 routes from the slot (according to numbers from Pro Football Focus). Most of the slot routes went to Anquan Boldin and Vernon Davis.
In 2014 the Chargers main slot receivers were Eddie Royal (86% of his routes came from the slot) and Antonio Gates. Royal is in Chicago and Gates, for the first four games of the year, at least, will be learning how to make a phone call and check on supplements. That leaves a whole lot of slot snaps available for Johnson. But, for possibly the first time in his career, Johnson is not picky about where he plays.
“Now I’m thinking about my team mates. I’m thinking about Keenan (Allen), I’m thinking about Malcom (Floyd) and how versatile they are. You put me wherever and we’ll complement each other. That’s good because I feel like we all feel like we’re the best at something and we’re going to try to prove it, so that’s good for our squad.”
Allen, especially, is another receiver who excels from inside the numbers. So does running back Danny Woodhead. But Chargers head coach Mike McCoy has said multiple times he wants to use his players in the way they’re going to have the most success, so that would suggest Stevie Johnson is going to see a lot of time in his happy place.
“I know what I can do. I don’t need people to talk about it but at this point … it’s about respect now. It’s not about the yards that I have. It’s about going out there and dominating.”
Johnson is known as one of the most creative route runners in the league. His success has come with the likes of Ryan Fitzpatrick and E.J. Manuel at quarterback. Now that he has Philip Rivers to work with, and an extra bit of motivation, there’s no reason to think he can’t help the Bolts bridge the gap until Gates returns.