2025 Dynasty Rookie Early Look: Tez Johnson, WR Oregon
Tez Johnson has been one of the receiving leaders in the Oregon Ducks offense over the past two seasons. It’s impossible to watch him play and not think of Tank Dell. He’s very undersized at only 5’10 ” and 160 lbs, but his speed and separation ability could be unmatched in this draft class. He’ll need to show well at the Senior Bowl and the NFL Combine to climb up draft boards and dynasty rookie rankings, but Dell has proven that this type of player can work in the NFL. Here’s an early look at Johnson and his transition to the NFL.
Recruitment
Tez Johnson’s recruiting profile, courtesy of 247Sports.
Johnson is a graduate of Pinson Valley High School in the class of 2020. He was a high school teammate of Bo Nix, his future teammate at Oregon. In fact, Johnson is an adopted younger brother of Nix. In 2018, Nix’s family took him in after Johnson’s father passed away.
On the field, Johnson helped lead Pinson Valley to an Alabama 6A State Championship as a Junior and the semifinals as a senior. His best season came as a junior, when he caught 106 balls for 1,457 yards and ten touchdowns. For that season, he was named first-team 6A all-state by the Alabama Sports Writers Association.
Coming out of high school, Johnson was a three-star recruit. He received interest from several Group of Five schools, including Western Kentucky, Arkansas State and Middle Tennessee State. He chose to stay local and go to Troy, where he spent his first three college seasons.
Collegiate Career
Tez Johnson’s collegiate stats courtesy of Sports Reference.
In three seasons at Troy, Johnson caught 141 balls for 1,809 yards and eight touchdowns. In his final year, he led the team with 56 catches for 863 yards and four touchdowns. He entered the transfer portal after the 2022 season with two years of eligibility remaining (thanks to the extra COVID season).
In the portal, 247 Sports ranked him as the 80th wide receiver available. He decided to join his adopted brother Bo Nix at Oregon for his final year of college.
With the family connection, Johnson broke out in the 2023 season. He broke an Oregon team record with 86 catches, going for 1,182 yards and catching 10 touchdowns. His 86 catches were the fifth-best in the Pac-12 and 16th in the nation. He was named second-team All-Pac-12 by the Associated Press. His best game of the season was a 12-180-2 performance against California. He also had an 11-172-1 game against Liberty in their Fiesta Bowl win.
While Nix chose to go pro, Johnson returned to Oregon for a final season. He picked up right where he left off, racking up 83 catches for 898 yards and another 10 touchdowns. He led the Oregon offense in receptions and receiving yards. He was a dominant force in the Big 10 championship game, catching 11 balls for a career-high 181 yards and a touchdown. But, he was shut down in their playoff matchup against Ohio State. He declared for the NFL Draft after the loss.
Strengths
- Constantly wide open. Of his 101 targets in 2024, only three of them were contested.
- Third in NCAA in YAC with 604 yards after catch in 2024
- Great route runner with twitchy, quick movement and cuts
- Elite speed, acceleration and quickness
- Lack of any character concerns, should interview well
- Experienced punt returner
Weaknesses
- Size is a major issue for Johnson
- Poor contested catch rate, only caught 10/27 contested targets in his career
- He’ll be limited to the slot at the professional level
- Inconsistent at the catch point with a high drop rate (6.7% in his career), but improved on that last season (3.5%)
- Second lowest ADOT in NCAA last season at just 5.9 yards
Draft Value
Mock Draft history for Johnson courtesy of Mock Draft Database
Johnson projects as a late-third-round pick right now, but the next couple of months will have a huge impact on his value. That starts with his attendance at the Senior Bowl next week. The Senior Bowl is where Tank Dell started to make a name for himself, and Johnson will need to have a similar performance. Johnson is coming from a college program with a much larger reach than Dell did, so he is starting at a higher point than Dell did coming out of college. Measurements at the Senior Bowl and Combine will also be very important, expect him to try to put on weight in the next couple of weeks. Given his size and college production, I would consider his ceiling to be the third round. I think it’s more likely he’s a day-three pick, like Troy Franklin was last year.
It’s tough not to picture Johnson following Nix to Denver in the Draft this season. Nix is already paired with former Ducks wide receiver Troy Franklin, but Johnson’s bond with Nix goes back even further than Franklin’s. Wide receiver isn’t a major need for the Broncos, but by the third or fourth rounds, they could be in the market for a slot receiver. Devaugh Vele and Lil’Jordan Humphrey manned the slot for the Broncos last season, Johnson could develop into an upgrade over those two.
Dynasty Outlook
The DLF Consensus Expert Rookie Rankings have Johnson as the number 20 rookie overall and the tenth wide receiver off the board. I believe that he’ll fall even further than that, likely into the third round of rookie drafts. I worry about his ability to produce at the NFL level, and I believe NFL teams will see that too. He needs separation to get anything done on the field. He’s a great route runner, and often earns that separation, but it’ll be tougher to get open in the pros. He doesn’t have great hands, he doesn’t have positional versatility and he relies far too much on yards after the catch.
I expect Johnson to be a rotational slot option at the NFL level, playing limited snaps and seeing limited opportunities. He’ll need to be schemed open by an intelligent play-caller, and he may be limited to gadget plays. He has the name value and school value to be overdrafted in rookie drafts, so I doubt he’ll be on my target list. That story could change with a spectacular showing at next week’s Senior Bowl but, for now, I’ll be looking elsewhere at wide receiver.
- 2025 Dynasty Rookie Early Look: Tez Johnson, WR Oregon - January 23, 2025
- 2025 Dynasty Rookie Early Look: TreVeyon Henderson, RB Ohio State - January 16, 2025
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