Roschon Johnson (born January 31, 2001) is an American professional football running back for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Texas and was selected by the Bears in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL draft.

Roschon Johnson
No. 23 – Chicago Bears
Position:Running back
Personal information
Born: (2001-01-31) January 31, 2001 (age 23)
Port Arthur, Texas, U.S.
Height:6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight:225 lb (102 kg)
Career information
High school:Port Neches–Groves (Port Neches, Texas)
College:Texas (2019–2022)
NFL draft:2023 / round: 4 / pick: 115
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career NFL statistics as of Week 5, 2024
Rushing yards:433
Rushing average:4.1
Rushing touchdowns:5
Receptions:38
Receiving yards:241
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Early life

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Johnson was born on January 31, 2001, in Port Arthur, Texas. During his early childhood, he would move to Groves, Texas, and attended Port Neches–Groves High School in Port Neches, Texas.[1] Johnson played quarterback for the Port Neches–Groves football team, completing 181 of 279 pass attempts for 2,918 yards and 35 touchdowns with five interceptions and 227 rushes for 1,627 yards and 29 touchdowns in 2017.[2] Johnson passed 2,343 yards and 24 touchdowns while also rushing for 1,623 yards and 26 touchdowns in his senior season.[3] He finished as Port Neches–Groves' all-time leading passer with 7,710 yards and second with 4,900 rushing yards.[4] Johnson was rated a four-star recruit and committed to play college football for the Texas Longhorns.[5][6]

College career

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Johnson began attending the University of Texas in January 2019.[7] He moved to running back during his freshman season due to injuries at the RB position.[8] Johnson finished the season with 649 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on 123 carries and 158 receiving yards and one touchdown on 23 receptions.[9] As a sophomore, Johnson served mostly as the Longhorns' backup running back behind Bijan Robinson and rushed 80 times for 418 yards and six touchdowns and caught eight passes for 51 yards and one touchdown.[10] He rushed for 569 yards and five touchdowns on 96 carries in his junior season.[11] Johnson enrolled at the McCombs School of Business in January 2021 and graduated with a degree in business management in May 2022.[12][13]

Professional career

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Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split Vertical jump Broad jump
6 ft 0+14 in
(1.84 m)
219 lb
(99 kg)
32 in
(0.81 m)
9+58 in
(0.24 m)
4.58 s 1.52 s 2.66 s 31.5 in
(0.80 m)
10 ft 2 in
(3.10 m)
[14][15]

Johnson was selected by the Chicago Bears in the fourth round (115th overall) of the 2023 NFL draft.[16] Johnson scored his first professional touchdown on a two yard rush in the fourth quarter of the Bears' Week 1 loss to the Packers.[17] As a rookie, he appeared in 15 games. He finished with 81 carries for 352 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns to go with 34 receptions for 209 receiving yards.[18]

References

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  1. ^ Moore, Chris (July 17, 2022). "Texas football coach refers to Roschon Johnson as "alpha" leader for Longhorns". The Port Arthur News. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  2. ^ "Roschon Johnson named finalist for Mr. Texas Football Player of the Year". Beaumont Enterprise. December 5, 2017. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  3. ^ Howe, Jeff (August 28, 2019). "Longhorns impressed with Roschon Johnson's 'selfless' move to RB". 247Sports.com. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  4. ^ Moyle, Nick (November 26, 2021). "Longhorns Extra Points: Roschon Johnson's wildcat success saves the day". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  5. ^ Craven, Mike (August 3, 2018). "The Dotted Line: Family describes Texas commit Roschon Johnson as driven, competitive". The Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  6. ^ Holland, EJ (March 27, 2018). "Recruiting analyst compares Texas commit to Texas A&M QB Kellen Mond". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  7. ^ Moyle, Nick (June 5, 2019). "After record-breaking high school career, Texas' Roschon Johnson ready for new challenge". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  8. ^ Jones, Kaelen (September 2, 2019). "'This is mind-boggling': Rash of injuries leads Texas to QB Roschon Johnson as No. 2 running back". The Athletic. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  9. ^ Moyle, Nick (September 28, 2021). "UT notebook: Backups don't get much better than RB Roschon Johnson". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  10. ^ Thompson, Cole (April 20, 2021). "More Than RB No.2, Texas' Johnson Proving to be Longhorns' Leader". SI.com. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  11. ^ Huang, Christina (August 10, 2022). "Texas RB Roshon Johnson was ranked 26th among college football's athletic 'freaks'". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  12. ^ Roschon Johnson [@roschon] (January 11, 2021). "Excited to be officially enrolled into The McCombs School of Business!" (Tweet). Retrieved April 12, 2023 – via Twitter.
  13. ^ Moore, Chris (May 18, 2022). "Port Neches-Groves alum Roschon Johnson graduates from business school". The Port Arthur News. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  14. ^ "Roschon Johnson Draft and Combine Prospect Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  15. ^ "Roschon Johnson 2023 NFL Draft Profile". insider.espn.com. Archived from the original on January 6, 2024. Retrieved April 29, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  16. ^ Hajduk, Gabby (April 29, 2023). "Bears select RB Roschon Johnson in fourth round". ChicagoBears.com. Retrieved July 15, 2023.
  17. ^ "Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears - September 10th, 2023". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  18. ^ "Roschon Johnson 2023 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
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