Texas Football: Roschon Johnson shines in second fall scrimmage

Texas football appears to have a standout brewing in the running back room this year with sophomore Roschon Johnson having a big fall camp.

A lot of the attention for the Texas football offense this fall will go to the running backs, with all of the talent that is stockpiled there heading into the 2020 season. The trio that includes freshman Bijan Robinson, sophomore Roschon Johnson, and junior Keaontay Ingram could be one of the best at the position in the Big 12 both this year and next. That is as long as Ingram doesn’t declare a year early for the 2021 NFL Draft.

But the middle of those three running backs, the former converted dual-threat quarterback Johnson, is an especially captivating Longhorn to watch this fall. Johnson was the surprise breakthrough among the running backs last season. The combination of Johnson and Ingram also brought the Longhorns their most productive ground game since the 2016 season.

With most of the Longhorns running backs already looking good in fall camp thus far, with a lot excitement building around Robinson especially, how should the carries be distributed?

The way that head coach Tom Herman is apparently thinking through a couple of weeks in fall camp thus far is leaning toward Johnson getting the bulk of the carries. Herman reportedly (Horns247 paid content) stated after the Longhorns second scrimmage of fall camp that Johnson was the “best” running back on the team right now.

Texas was in the humidor for the second fall scrimmage over the weekend. And apparently Johnson made a big impact on the coaching staff, as noted in that Horns247 report. The fact that the other two running backs are having solid stints in camp and Johnson is still looking like the best at the position shows what type of impact he can make this year.

As a true freshman with Texas last season, Johnson registered more than 800 total yards from scrimmage, eight total touchdowns, and 5.3 yards per carry. Of his eight total touchdowns, seven were rushing and one was receiving. He also had 23 receptions on the season, with 158 of his 807 total yards coming in the receiving game. That was an average of nearly seven yards per catch.

Texas is planned to open up the 2020 season on Sep. 12 at home against the UTEP Miners out of Conference-USA. Then, they are expected to open up the Big 12 schedule on Sep. 26 on the road in Lubbock against the Texas Tech Red Raiders.