Oregon Ducks wide receiver Tez Johnson enters the 2025 NFL Draft after a respectable collegiate career with statistical contributions that would make most any receiver a Day 2 consideration, but his puny size and alarming lack of breakaway speed will make him a tough sell before the final stanza of the draft.
Height: 5-foot-9
Weight: 154 pounds
40 time: 4.51 seconds
Johnson played football for Pinson Valley High School in Alabama, where he was a teammate of Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix, whose father coached the program. The Nix family would take in Johnson as one of their own after tragedy struck his biological family, which creates an interesting “what if” scenario that we’ll touch on later.
A three-year stint at Troy University came to end when Johnson transferred to Oregon in 2023 to reunite with Nix to post a breakout year for the pint-sized receiver that saw him set the school’s single-season receptions mark (86).
Johnson, who was named to the All-Sun Belt roster (third team) in ’21, managed to finish his NCAA career with Second-Team All-Big Ten honors and an MVP nod for his Big Ten Championship performance (11-181-1) as a redshirt senior.
Table: WR Tez Johnson, Oregon (2020-24)
*includes postseason/bowl games (stats from Sports Reference)
Pros
- Fits multiple pro-style systems and schemes — transitioned nicely from Troy to Oregon
- Agile, shifty movement traits to create space in traffic
- Above-average contact balance in spite of his size
- Demonstrates understanding of how to exploit soft spots in zone coverage
- Plenty of film to watch of him with 61 or more touches in four straight seasons — productive with 169 catches over the last two years combined and 21 total touchdowns in the past 26 contests
- Experienced on special teams with 33 punt returns in his past two seasons, including 13 returns, 155 yards (11.9) and a TD in 2024
- Versatility for a bevy of manufactured touches in the running and short-area passing games
Cons
- Extremely slight build — it’s exceedingly rare for a player south of 170 pounds to carve out a meaningful NFL career, let alone at Johnson’s meager 154
- Lacks vertical speed and timed poorly at the combine — if you’re a small player, you best be a fast one
- Rarely breaks big plays when schemed into short-area passing
- Despite elite explosion metrics at the combine, it’s doesn’t jump off the screen
- Lacks functional strength to beat press coverage, gets redirected easily, and isn’t a capable blocker
- Hands aren’t terrible, but he more body catches than ideal
Fantasy football outlook
After his disastrous 40-yard dash performance at the combine, he’ll need to blaze at the March 18 pro day before anyone should be confident that he is even drafted. In all likelihood, though, one team will gamble on the production and feel clever coaching can get something worthwhile out of him to justify a late-round pick.
One intriguing landing spot is Denver, given the connection to Nix and Sean Payton’s love for incorporating gimmick plays.
From a fantasy perspective, it’s awfully difficult to envision Johnson developing into a weekly contributor, especially in Year 1. For now, consider him a middling fantasy curiosity, at best.
