Fullback Austin Johnson was placed on injured reserve yesterday with a knee injury that will shelve him for the season. If you’ve been paying attention to the roster this year, then you feel for the guy more than you might usually for an average NFL player. It would be hard not to root for Johnson. The guy shouldn’t even be playing fullback or maybe at all in the NFL. A linebacker in college, he was switched to fullback as a developmental project after going undrafted. Traditionally the Saints have kept just one fullback on their roster, so the odds of him making the team with the Erik Lorig offseason signing were placed squarely at 1%. When Lorig went down with an injury, the Saints brought in veteran Greg Jones which continued to suggest Johnson would face long odds to make the squad. Cutting a name as big as Greg Jones was a harder decision on the Saints than you might think. Credit is deserved as Johnson saw an opportunity open up for him and he made the most of it. Johnson was the opening day starter at fullback and over the course of the weeks that lay ahead, he became more involved in the gameplan as he continued to show his abilities to contribute. Johnson was a beast on short yardage carries, showed a promising ability catching the ball in the flat, and was a totally serviceable lead blocker. If he leaves us with one memory of his 2014 season, let it be the block he threw to help Khiry Robinson race for the walk off score against the Bucs. And forget the on the field stuff, Johnson just seems like a terrific person, a great guy to have in the locker room and a hard worker. For all of those reasons it’s a real bummer to lose him.
That said, the Erik Lorig return couldn’t be coming at a better time. Let’s be honest, Johnson probably would have spent all of 2014 on the practice squad if the ankle injury to Lorig had not happened. It the ultimate twist of horrible luck, Johnson cannot be on the practice squad next year as he officially has an accrued seasons on the books by playing active in 7 games. If you’re active for 6 games in a season, you have an accrued season and that makes you no longer eligible for the practice squad in future years. Sadly he probably could have extended his career by injuring himself after week 5 as the Saints would have had the option to keep him on the practice squad next year even if he didn’t make the team. By injuring himself now that means he’ll have to make a 53 man roster or nothing next year. The timing really sucks.
Lorig was really good against the Packers and a big disappointment against the Panthers. So the jury is still out on him, but I think as the season progresses we’ll see not much of a drop off compared to Johnson. In fact, I think the Saints believe it will be an upgrade in the running game. What we could possibly miss is Johnson’s interior rushing ability, something Lorig has never really done in his career. In fact, he fumbled on one of his two carries this season. But the biggest concern for me is who the Saints signed to fill Johnson’s roster spot. The Saints signed Nick Becton, an offensive tackle, off of the Giants’ practice squad. Becton played one game as a reserve for the Chargers last year as an undrafted rookie from Virginia Tech. The signing of Becton suggests Zach Strief’s injury will cause him to at least miss some practice this week. That’s a major concern because you’ll remember Ahmad Brooks almost decapitated Drew Brees last year WITH Strief blocking him. Can you imagine how that will go with Bryce Harris?
If Harris is starting at right tackle, it will cause problems to the offense one way or another. Either they leave him on an island and he’ll get eaten alive, or they do things to help him out which will limit the offense. Whether it’s a Jimmy Graham chip which will slow down the tight end’s route and disrupt timing, a double team that leaves other parts of the protection exposed, or a back double teaming which limits the check down options – it all adds up to life against the #2 defense in the NFL getting harder. I’m very fearful that Becton’s addition suggests Strief’s absence. I hope not, because I think that would be a significant development in this game.
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