When the Houston Texans waived running back D’Onta Foreman in preseason, they had to find a complementary back to starter Lamar Miller.
On Aug. 8, the Texans traded a conditional 2020 third-round pick to the Cleveland Browns for Duke Johnson. After 16 games, coach Bill O’Brien knows what the club got with the 26-year-old.
“Duke’s a smart guy,” O’Brien told reporters Tuesday. Duke’s a good route runner out of the backfield, but a good runner too, a good runner from the backfield.”
O’Brien and first-year offensive coordinator Tim Kelly didn’t simply throw Johnson passes, of which he caught 44 for 410 yards and three touchdowns. The former Miami Hurricane was also emphasized as a runner, and he set a new career high with 410 rushing yards on 82 carries and scored two touchdowns along the way.
“He’s done a lot of good things for us — really smart,” said O’Brien. “Was able to come in here and pick up the offense and help us this year, no doubt about it.”
Johnson never veered from his role. When the Texans had trouble at the top of the depth chart at running back with Miller tearing his ACL in the third preseason game, Johnson stayed in his lane as a back that could help in the passing game. On Aug. 31, Houston traded with Kansas City for Carlos Hyde, and Johnson was able to focus on his role and showcase his versatility.
Said O’Brien: “It helps because you can put him in the backfield, you can put him in different spots in the formation where you can try to get him matched up in space.”
The Texans will need Johnson to be as effective as possible with his versatility as Houston hosts the Buffalo Bills in the AFC wild-card Saturday at 3:35 p.m. CT. The Bills will be bringing their No. 2 ranked scoring defense, which gave up 16.2 points per game, into NRG Stadium to stop the Texans’ offense.
