Xavier Johnson hints at return for final season with Buckeyes
COLUMBUS — Ohio State Swiss Army knife Xavier Johnson hinted at his return for the 2023 season, which would be his sixth and final year with the program.
Hours after tight end and team captain Cade Stover announced that he was coming back and hitting the pause button on a potential NFL career Monday, Johnson went to Instagram to post a picture from the Peach Bowl with a caption reading “What you say?” before tagging Stover.
Running back TreVeyon Henderson commented, “Run it back then!” Similarly, fellow back Miyan Williams commented, “Run it backkkk.” Several Buckeyes players chimed in, excited for the potential return of Johnson, a former preferred walk-on who is coming off his most impactful season in Columbus.
Perhaps most encouraging for Ohio State fans was program general manager Mark Pantoni quote tweeting a post about Johnson’s return for 2023 with four exclamation point emojis.
Johnson piled up 297 yards from scrimmage this season, but that doesn’t do his value justice. In the opener against Notre Dame, he caught the game-clinching touchdown pass after star slot wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba injured his hamstring. Johnson seesawed back and forth between wide receiver and running back throughout the season, giving the Buckeyes depth where they needed it.
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He showed out during arguably Ohio State’s most dominant Big Ten win of the year — a 56-14 blowout of Indiana — with two catches for 47 yards and a zig-zagging touchdown run of 71 yards.
Then, in the Peach Bowl, Johnson recorded a season-high six carries for 28 yards. Most notably, though, he hauled in a 37-yard touchdown pass in the first half that saw him turn to make the reception on a seam route before scoring with a smooth spin move.
Johnson wasn’t on scholarship until the 2021 season, and before this past year, he spent pretty much all of his snaps on special teams. He’s continued to contribute there, leading Ohio State with 12 kick returns for 269 yards (22.4 yards per return) this season, not to mention his two blocked punt recoveries.
Johnson has become a jack of all trades for the Buckeyes, and that role might even grow in 2023.
