The New York Giants’ depth chart at wide receiver is a lengthy one, and third-year pro Collin Johnson would seem, on paper, to be well down the list.
But last week, when the Giants faced the Patriots in the preseason opener, it was Johnson leading the receiving corps with seven grabs on eight targets for 82 yards, making the most of an opportunity to show what he can do.
“Training camp has been good – it’s been a grind, but I've just been focused on getting better every day and just taking it one day at a time,” Johnson said Monday at Giants camp. “At the end of the day, you've just got to focus on being the best you can be. I feel like if you do that, when the opportunity comes, you'll make it.”
Johnson was a fifth-round pick of the Jaguars in 2020, but was waived by Jacksonville just before last season and hooked on in New York, catching 11 passes for 105 yards in 12 games.
In a season where no Giants receiver tallied more than 39 catches of 521 yards, that line isn’t as meager as it seems, but Johnson came to camp eager to show that he belongs higher on that depth chart that includes more than a dozen players right now.
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“I take it day-by-day, and I feel like I'm better today than I was yesterday,” Johnson said. “I have full confidence that when I get an opportunity, I'll make the play because I know the way I work every day. I'm definitely going to keep working and keep taking advantage of my opportunities.
Every game, every practice, is experience and you've just got to add that to the tool kit and keep growing and keep getting better.”
Johnson is always looking forward, not back – “once practice is over, I’m focused on the next day, that’s the way I’m wired,” he said – and he has taken new head coach Brian Daboll’s process over result strategy to heart this summer.
“All I can control just getting better every day and taking advantage of my opportunities when my number is called,” he said. “How many targets I have, maybe can't control, but my attitude and effort I can always control that. I'm big on that. That's just my focus and that will always be my focus, my attitude and effort. I feel like if I stay focused on that the results and taking advantage of opportunities will take care of itself.”
So far, so good, according to his head coach.
“He’s made the most of his opportunities; we’ve talked to these guys about earning it, and he's certainly earned it with his opportunities that he's gotten,” Daboll said. “If he does well, he'll get more opportunities.
He’s made plays, and done a nice job.”
It doesn’t hurt that at 6-foot-6 and 220 pounds, Johnson is the biggest receiver in camp, but Daboll has been most impressed by Johnson’s ability to fill a number of roles in his offensive scheme.
“It's not so much the size. It's his overall intelligence of being able to line up at multiple spots,” Daboll said. “He’s smart, and he’s got position flexibility in terms of intelligence and understanding the roster. And, the ability to separate and get open is important and then make plays on the football when he has an opportunity to.”
And Johnson’s teammates are happy for him too, as one even labeled him as the “nicest guy in the locker room.”
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“He's a guy who has always been available, who does the job the right way, who's the nicest guy in the locker room, around the building. Off the field, he's doing the right things. All he's needed was some opportunity,” said safety Julian Love. “His skillset is pretty special, and he’s been selfless in the way that guys have been down, and he's stepped up and played some good snaps for us. So now, it's on him. You're seeing that, and you're seeing him flash. He's a good receiver."
A good receiver who is doing nothing more than the job he knows, the only way he knows how to.
"Just doing the ordinary with extreme focus – at the end of the day, every little moment in meetings, workouts, film, every little treatment, every little thing I do, I just try to do it with intent,” Johnson said. “I feel like if you just stack a bunch of good days over and over again, you can see results. I just got to continue to go hard and take it day-by-day, and if I gave it my all, I could live with that.”
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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