When the Cleveland Browns agreed to sign free agent cornerback Kevin Johnson, there were distinctly different geographic reactions to the news.
Folks from Buffalo, where Johnson played in 2019, found it to be a good move and seemed generally optimistic about the Browns’ presumptive new slot corner. He held that role for the Bills last season and held his own for a playoff team. People from Houston did not share in that optimism.
Johnson played his first four seasons with the Texans as the first-round pick by Houston in 2015. His rookie year was acceptable, starting 10 games late after beginning as the nickel back. Johnson missed a lot of tackles but his coverage on the outside was solid and he was willing to try and battle with more physical receivers. Alas, he broke his foot in Houston’s playoff loss to Kansas City.
His 2016 started off okay, but then the injuries hit. Johnson went on IR after six games, breaking a bone in his foot he had previously broken. In 2017, a season I covered as editor of the Texans Wire, Johnson quickly played his way out of the starting lineup. A minor knee injury cost him four games, and paired with the prior foot injury, the once-speedy and confident Johnson was a shell of his former self. He allowed a QB Rating of over 137.0 on passes thrown his direction that year.
Two concussions in a short timeframe ended his 2018 season after just one lousy game. Houston fans couldn’t wait to dump the oft-injured, increasingly “soft” bust of a cornerback.
It’s hard to forget that Johnson as someone who watched every wretched snap of those final two-plus seasons in Houston. That Kevin Johnson will not make the 2020 Browns.
That’s why the Buffalo reaction is important. Johnson looked more like his rookie self in his year up the Lake Erie shoreline. Especially when playing in the slot, Johnson was back to using his shoulders and hands more effectively before the throw. His tackling, while still not an asset, was not the detriment it grew to be in Houston. Johnson got a second chance, a fresh start, and he proved he still had something to offer.
The 2019 Johnson not only makes the 2020 Browns, he’s at least on the level of T.J. Carrie from last year in Cleveland. And a whole lot cheaper, to boot. That’s the kind of prudent low-risk/high-reward signing the Browns need to make without having to depend on the reward to make the team functional.
