Roschon Johnson named to The Athletic's Freaks List
Every year, longtime college football reporter Bruce Feldman of The Athletic releases his annual Freaks List. Feldman’s ever-expanding list of college football players spotlights “players who generate buzz inside their program by displaying the unique physical abilities that wow even those who observe gifted athletes every day.”
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Over the course of the last few years, a few Longhorns have been added to the list. Ahead of the 2022 season, current Texas running back Roschon Johnson checked in at No. 26 on Feldman’s Freaks List.
Johnson, a 6-foot-2, 223-pound running back from Port Neches (Texas) Port Neches-Groves, started his career at Texas as a quarterback during the spring of 2019. In the weeks leading up to that season, Texas had a full-fledged running back emergency, and Johnson’s services were needed at running back.
There was an adjustment for Johnson, but it was not a significant one. At PNG, Johnson ran between the tackles often as part of the Indian offense and proved to be very proficient at it. Catching the ball out of the backfield and picking up blitzers would prove to take some time, but for what Texas needed, Johnson was a godsend.
Now three years later, he’s one of the more gifted athletes in the program, along with being an “alpha” as proclaimed by Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian.
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“This guy is just an outstanding all-around football player,” Feldman wrote. “He breaks tackles to pick up third downs, taking direct snaps out of the Wildcat, can run away from linebackers or take on defensive ends.”
Feldman also explained Johnson packed on five additional pounds of muscle, but hasn’t lot any footspeed. He reported Johnson hit 22.6 mph during offseason workouts, one of the top marks in the program.
Johnson was the only Texas player to make the 100-player list, but a number of fellow Freaks who will line up across from the Longhorns this season made the roll call of gifted athletes.
No. 5: Iowa State DE Will McDonald IV
No. 10: Alabama LB Chris Braswell
No. 16: TCU DE Dylan Horton
No. 17: Baylor DL Gabe Hall
No. 23: TCU WR Quentin Johnston
No. 43: Alabama WR Tyler Harrell
No. 57: TCU CB Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson
No. 62: Alabama DB Brian Branch
No. 68: West Virginia WR Bryce Ford-Wheaton
No. 71: West Virginia DL Jordan Jefferson
No. 86: Texas Tech DL Jaylon Hutchings
No. 88: UTSA DT Christian Clayton
