Tennessee football: Brandon Johnson transfers after he was underused

Jeremy Pruitt and the Tennessee football Volunteers under-utilized the wide receiver.

After taking a redshirt in 2019 so he would have a year to prove himself in 2020, Tennessee football wide receiver Brandon Johnson was never able to get fully into a rhythm. Now, the fifth-year senior is transferring and will have another year of eligibility left.

Given the commitment he showed to the program through two head coaches and being demoted in the depth chart, the cousin of former NFL great Chad Johnson deserved much better. Jeremy Pruitt and Jim Chaney never gave it to him.

Still, Johnson was very classy with his announcement that he was transferring, praising both coaching staffs and everybody else he worked with while with Tennessee football. He revealed the news that he would enter the portal Monday afternoon on Twitter.

Here’s the problem: Johnson is a proven talent who went out of his way to be able to help out the Vols. After leading the team in receiving with 37 catches for 482 yards and a touchdown in 2017, Johnson fell back in the depth chart thanks to Jauan Jennings’ return to health and the arrival of Pruitt. His talents were being wasted.

Rather than leave, Johnson played his role in 2018 and decided to redshirt in 2019 so he could have a year to himself in 2020. Early on, he showed promise that he made the right decision and was about to have a breakout year. Just check out this third down catch in the opener against the South Carolina Gamecocks.

Johnson did things like that for Tennessee football all year. He had multiple key third down catches against the Missouri Tigers and then had an impressive fourth down reception against the Alabama Crimson Tide, always coming through when it mattered most.

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Unfortunately for him, that seemed to be the only time Jim Chaney called his number. For the year, Johnson has caught 19 passes for 231 yards and no touchdowns. He hasn’t had many balls thrown his way that he didn’t catch either. Still, Josh Palmer, Velus Jones Jr., Jalin Hyatt and Eric Gray all have more receiving yards than him.

That means the Vols just didn’t use what he brought to the table enough. Johnson deserved better with his ability to make spectacular catches, his proven production as a guy who once led the team in receiving and his ability to come through on plays that mattered. Add in his family pedigree, and it’s clear he was underused. In fact, he was underused by two different coaching staffs.

If UT had used Johnson more, Jarrett Guarantano may have kept his job, and the Vols could have had a few more explosive offensive plays. There’s no reason to think that he couldn’t have helped provide a major mismatch given his hands and size at 6’2″ 203 pounds, especially as a No. 2 wideout with Palmer and Jones also commanding lots of attention.

Initially committed to Jones, Johnson joined the team with Marquez Callaway in 2016. That year, he had 7 catches for 93 yards and showed some future promise. His emergence the next year came due to a season-ending injury to Jennings.

It’s an indictment against the coaching staff, and to be fair, the quarterbacks, that Johnson was not in the top three on this team in receiving. He is as much of a proven threat as Jones and Palmer and should have been part of that rotation. Don’t be surprised if he has a breakout year somewhere else next year and becomes another player Tennessee football didn’t use enough.