Tyreek Johnson 'has everything it takes to be a great player'
It’s always newsworthy when a coach–speaking at a press conference goes out of his way to praise a player. So when Shane Beamer was talking before South Carolina’s preseason camp and brought up Tyreek Johnson unprompted, it raised some eyebrows.
He spoke highly of the offseason Johnson had and how the Gamecocks need him to step up with depth concerns at the edge position. And it seems like he’s doing that so far as week one of camp ends.
“He has everything it takes to be a great player. He’s one of the most physical dudes on the team. If you talk to Luke Day and our strength coaches, pound for pound he might be one of the strongest guys on the team,” position coach Sterling Lucas said. “Now just get the opportunity to go out there. He’s healthy. Go out there, execute and go out there to dominate.”
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It’s been a long road for Johnson, who tore his ACL as a freshman in 2018 and had a subluxed knee cap in 2019 that kept him off the field.
After not playing in 2020, Johnson played in just two games as a redshirt sophomore. It wasn’t until 2021 that Johnson began chiseling out a role.
He played 146 snaps over 10 games, finishing with some high grades from Pro Football Focus. He had an overall grade of 70.4, a tackling grade of 75.8 and a pass rush grade pushing on 69 overall.
Johnson finished with six total pressures (two quarterback hits, four hurries) in 70 pass rush snaps. He totaled eight tackles and eight stops in the run game.
This year, with departures in the EDGE room, it’ll be up to Johnson in his last year of eligibility to help buoy that room.
“The main thing is the speed of the game. Everything is faster and more physical. Then understanding how important it is to know what to do,” Johnson said. “Knowing what to do allows you to make better plays when you’re on the field.”
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It’s his offseason that Johnson said helped him the most, taking advantage of a new nutrition staff to get his body in the right spot to play more in 2023.
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South Carolina brought in Yimy Queipo Rodriguez to run the nutrition program this offseason, bringing him over after a stint as the Performance Dietitian for the Chicago Cubs.
Johnson is five pounds heavier (270) than his listed weight last season. And he has seen his maxes on bench press and squat increase as well. He said he maxes out at 400 pounds on the bench press and squats 600 pounds.
“I would say the biggest thing is they try to do different things. They’re trying to learn us as individuals. Every athlete and person’s body is different. They try to learn what works for us and each individual on the team,” Johnson said.
“They’re bringing in different vitamins. We’re taking different vitamins than we did last year. He’s putting a big emphasis on learning how to take control of our nutrition and teach us. So we can be prepared in the long run.”
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South Carolina needs Johnson to be productive this season and potentially start after the departures of Jordan Burch and Gilber Edmond. And Johnson thinks he’s up for the task.
“I can pretty much play the run and rush the passer. I can do both so I can be on both phases: first and second down then third down. Then also I can help on special teams.”
