Joshua Javon Johnson (born May 15, 1986) is an American professional football quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). Johnson has been a member of 14 different NFL teams during his career. He also played in the United Football League (UFL) and XFL.
Johnson played college football for the San Diego Toreros, earning three consecutive I-AA All-American honors between 2005 and 2007 and setting the FCS record for passer rating. He was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL draft. Primarily a backup during his career, Johnson has started games for the Buccaneers, Washington Redskins / Commanders, and Baltimore Ravens, while also seeing playing time with the Cleveland Browns, New York Jets, San Francisco 49ers, and Bengals. His longest stint has been with the Buccaneers, where he spent his first four years, and his tenures with other teams have mostly lasted no longer than one season.
Early life
Johnson was born on May 15, 1986, in Oakland, California. He attended Oakland Technical High School and was a letterman in football, basketball, and track & field. In football, as a senior, Johnson was named the team's Most Improved Player, was a first-team All-City selection, and led his team to the Oakland Athletic League Championship. Johnson was also a teammate of cousin Marshawn Lynch.
College career 2004–2005 Johnson enrolled at University of San Diego in 2004, where he played for the Toreros as a backup quarterback to Todd Mortensen. Johnson finished the season with 135 passing yards and an interception to go along with 13 carries for 39 yards and two touchdowns.
Johnson earned the starting job after Mortensen's departure for the 2005 season and earned some All-American honors after breaking numerous records. Johnson, who earned three conference player of the week honors, totaled eight games with four or more passing touchdowns. His best game of the season came against Valparaiso, when he threw for a school-record seven touchdowns (all coming in the first half). Johnson also had five touchdowns and 375 yards against Morehead State in the Pioneer Football League Championship victory. He finished the season with 3,256 passing yards, 36 touchdowns, and eight interceptions to go along with 86 carries for 379 yards and four touchdowns en route to being named team MVP.
2006 After his record-setting sophomore season, Johnson was named third-team Associated Press All-America on his junior season. He was also named PFL Offensive Player of the Year as he led San Diego to a 10–0 start. Johnson led San Diego to their first Top 25 appearance in school history and finished the season with 3,320 passing yards, 34 touchdowns, and five interceptions to go along with 107 carries for 720 yards and 11 touchdowns. Johnson led the FCS in total offense, passing efficiency, passing yards, and points responsible for. He totaled four games with over 300 yards passing, while his season-best was a 384-yard performance against Jacksonville. Johnson also had a 25-yard touchdown reception on the season. In the victory over Jacksonville, he set a school-record with 470 total yards of offense. Johnson finished sixth in the voting for the Walter Payton Award, for the best player in the FCS.
2007 After two highly productive seasons, Johnson entered the 2007 campaign on the Walter Payton Award watch list and was named a Preseason All-American. He was suspended for the season opener against Azusa Pacific for violating team rules.
Making his season debut the following week against Marist, Johnson completed 24 of 28 passes for a then career-high 403 yards and four touchdowns in the victory. He followed that performance with consecutive six-touchdown passing games against Northern Colorado and Butler. In the latter contest, Johnson became the Toreros’ all-time leader in career passing yards.
Against Davidson College, he threw for a career-high 428 yards and six touchdowns. Johnson finished the season with 2,988 passing yards, a school-record 43 touchdowns, and an interception to go along with 107 carries for 726 yards and two touchdowns. He set school records for career touchdown passes and passing yards, in addition to already holding the career completions record. Johnson was named a third-team FCS All-American and a finalist for the Walter Payton Award, finishing third in the voting behind winner Jayson Foster. Johnson also holds the record for the highest career passer efficiency (176.68) in NCAA Division I football history.
Following his senior season, Johnson was invited to play in the 2008 East–West Shrine Game in Houston, Texas, where he was named the game's Offensive MVP after completing five of 11 passes for 78 yards and a touchdown, while rushing for 103 yards on three attempts.
Professional career Pre-draft Despite his small school background, Johnson had his name on many teams' draft boards. Johnson was aided by his impressive NFL Combine performances, in which he posted the best 40-yard dash time of 4.55 and vertical jump of any quarterback in the 2008 NFL Combine.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2008 Johnson was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the fifth round (160th overall) of the 2008 NFL draft. He saw no playing time as a rookie.
2009 Johnson made his first appearance in a regular season NFL game in Week 3 against the New York Giants. When Johnson replaced Byron Leftwich as Tampa Bay's quarterback with 9:33 remaining, the Buccaneers had accumulated only 35 total yards and one first down against the favored Giants. Taking his first pro snap, Johnson found Antonio Bryant for six yards, marking the afternoon's first reception by a Tampa Bay wide receiver. Johnson ran for 15 yards and added three more completions for 30 yards as the Buccaneers finished the 24–0 loss with 86 yards. Johnson drove the Buccaneers from their own 24 to the New York five-yard line in his only possession. One of Johnson's passes zipped through Michael Clayton's hands in the end zone. Johnson was named the starting quarterback for the Week 4 matchup against the Washington Redskins. He threw his first career touchdown pass to Antonio Bryant on his first pass of the game and finished the 16–13 road loss with 106 passing yards, the aforementioned touchdown, and an interception to go along with seven carries for 41 yards.
During a Week 5 33–14 road loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, Johnson threw for 240 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions while also rushing five times for 40 yards. In the next game against the Carolina Panthers, he had 147 passing yards and an interception to go along with eight carries for 45 yards during the 28–21 loss. The following week against the New England Patriots in London, Johnson completed nine of 26 passes for 156 yards, a touchdown, and three interceptions in the 35–7 loss.
Johnson finished the 2009 season with 685 passing yards, four touchdowns, and eight interceptions to go along with 22 carries for 148 yards in six games and four starts.
2010 During the 2010 season, Johnson was a backup to Josh Freeman, completing 14 of 16 passes for 111 yards in 11 games and no starts.
2011 During Week 13, Johnson started in place of the injured Josh Freeman against the Panthers. Johnson threw for 229 yards, a touchdown, and an interception while also rushing five times for 45 yards in the 38–19 loss. In the next game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, he finished with three passing yards and an interception out of two pass attempts during the 41–14 road loss.
Johnson finished the 2011 season with 246 passing yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions to go along with 11 carries for 67 yards in nine games and one start.
San Francisco 49ers (first stint) On March 22, 2012, Johnson signed a two-year deal with the San Francisco 49ers, reuniting with his coach from the University of San Diego, Jim Harbaugh. On August 31, Johnson was one of 21 players cut as the 49ers trimmed their roster to the 53-man limit for the regular season.
Johnson tried out for the Chicago Bears on December 12, 2012.
Sacramento Mountain Lions Johnson signed with the Sacramento Mountain Lions of the United Football League on September 19, 2012. He started the season opener against the Omaha Nighthawks but exited the game with a knee contusion, causing him to miss the next two weeks. Johnson returned to start against the Virginia Destroyers, completing 13 of 22 passes for 159 yards in a 20–17 victory. He appeared in two games overall during the 2012 season before the league suspended operations following Week 4.
Cleveland Browns On December 26, 2012, the Cleveland Browns announced that they signed Johnson after injuries to Brandon Weeden and Colt McCoy. After an injury to starter Thad Lewis, Johnson played for one snap in the regular season finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The single snap resulted in a sack fumble.
Cincinnati Bengals (first stint)
On March 21, 2013, Johnson signed with the Cincinnati Bengals. He finished the 2013 season with seven carries for 20 yards. Johnson was released on May 12, 2014.
San Francisco 49ers (second stint) Johnson re-signed with the 49ers on May 15, 2014. He was released on September 20, but was re-signed three days later. Johnson was released again on October 10 and was re-signed four days later. He was repeatedly signed and released to give the 49ers a 54th roster spot.
Cincinnati Bengals (second stint) Johnson was signed by the Bengals on April 2, 2015. He was released on August 25.
New York Jets (first stint) Johnson signed with the New York Jets on August 27, 2015. He was released nine days later.
Indianapolis Colts On October 2, 2015, Johnson signed with the Indianapolis Colts due to an injury to starter Andrew Luck. He was released three days later. Johnson was re-signed on October 7, but was released again five days later.
Buffalo Bills On October 13, 2015, Johnson signed with the Buffalo Bills.
Baltimore Ravens (first stint) Johnson signed with the Baltimore Ravens on May 15, 2016. He was released on September 3.
New York Giants Johnson was signed by the New York Giants on September 5, 2016. He was active for only two games during the regular season due to injuries to backup quarterback Ryan Nassib.
On March 17, 2017, Johnson signed a two-year contract with the Giants. On September 2, he was released during preseason cuts.
Houston Texans On November 7, 2017, Johnson was signed by the Houston Texans after the release of Matt McGloin. He was released on November 22. Johnson was re-signed on December 27, after an injury to Taylor Heinicke.
Oakland Raiders On March 19, 2018, Johnson signed with the Oakland Raiders. He was released on May 20.
San Diego Fleet In 2018, Johnson was assigned to the San Diego Fleet of the Alliance of American Football. In November, he was protected by the team in the 2019 AAF QB Draft with the first overall pick. Shortly afterwards, Johnson was signed by the Washington Redskins before the AAF season began and never played for the team.
Washington Redskins (first stint)
On December 5, 2018, Johnson signed a one-year contract with the Washington Redskins to be a backup to Mark Sanchez after season-ending leg injuries to Colt McCoy and Alex Smith. Johnson said that he played a Madden NFL video game to help learn the names of his new teammates.