AUBURN, Alabama—Catching 19 passes for 274 yards and two touchdowns while also adding a 57-yard touchdown run against Mississippi State on a backwards pass from Bo Nix, Ja’Varrius Johnson was one of Auburn’s big play threats a season ago, but following the year he had some doubts about his future with the program.
Deciding to enter the transfer portal, Johnson eventually decided to return to Auburn, a decision he says now was the right one for him. Sitting down with Bryan Harsin and talking with his teammates, the former Hewitt-Trussville standout hasn’t looked back as he prepares for his junior season with the Tigers.
“I had a hard time going on,” Johnson said. “It was just a decision that I made with my family, and I took some time off and thought about it and I was like, ‘This is where I wanted to be.’ I’ve been here, going onto my fourth year now, and y’know, the connection I had with each player on the team, so that was like the biggest thing too, for me, was just not like leaving my boys because I’ve been here for a while and made connections with them.”
Coming back to the team meant getting to work with former Florida standout and NFL player and coach Ike Hilliard. Saying the two have a good bond together because their personalities mesh, Johnson said likes what Hilliard brings to the table for him and the wide receiver group.
“We’re just trying to find our rhythm and get everything together,” Johnson said. “Just trying to find out who is going to be able to play. I think with Coach Hilliard it has been very good. He’s been able to develop us as a group and find out what each of our skills are and helping us tune our skills. It’s going to be great.”
For Johson the fine-tuning for his game has been learning the finer points of playing the position under Hilliard. A technician as a player with the Gators and with so much NFL experience, he’s working with Auburn’s wide receivers to be better at the pre-snap part of the game. That means reading the defense and understanding what coverage you’re seeing and adjusting to help out the quarterback in making the correct throws.
It’s something Johnson said he’s improving this preseason and he’s ready to put it into action this fall for the Tigers.
“My next step is to find my role with the team and be able to improve that step,” Johnson said. “For me, I’ve been working a lot on becoming a better route-runner, you know, learning the defenses, learning all the coverages; that’s been my main thing, just learning all the coverages so that when we’re playing, I’ll be able to know the coverages and know the spots and weaknesses I can attack. That’s where I think I can find my game at.”
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