D’Ernest Johnson announced his presence in the Cleveland Browns starting lineup with authority. Johnson filled in at running back for injured stars Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt in Thursday night’s win over the Denver Broncos and lit up the Denver defense with one of the top rushing games of the season.
In fact, Johnson’s performance earned him the highest Pro Football Focus grade for any running back through the first seven weeks. Johnson logged a 90.0 rushing grade for the game. No other RB, not even Tennessee’s Derrick Henry, has topped that.
Much of the elite grade comes from Johnson creating 75 yards after contact on his 22 carries. He finished with 146 yards in his first career start.
D’Ernest Johnson: 90.0 PFF rushing grade vs the Broncos
That’s the highest single-game rushing grade this season 😤😤 pic.twitter.com/zsggdLKuiv
— PFF (@PFF) October 22, 2021
Interestingly, the player Johnson knocked out of the top single-game rushing grade for the year? Kareem Hunt, who earned an 89.3 rushing grade in Week 3.
