Syracuse Football: Tale of the tape on Orange RB Garrison Johnson

The Syracuse football depth chart just got a lot deeper with the addition of Garrison Johnson. Here’s the tale of the tape on this talented running back.

In addition to the Steve Linton commitment, Syracuse also received an a Letter of Intent from Garrison Johnson. The Manvel, Texas native, just South of Houston played for Syracuse QB’s coach Kirk Martin just a few years ago.

Johnson is a big running back at 5-foot-11 and 210-pounds. Based on recent pictures of him on his official visit at Syracuse I would say he is even bigger than 210. Johnson took his official visit to Syracuse the weekend of January 25th.

A former North Texas commit, the Texas native also had offers from the likes of Indiana, Nebraska, and Virginia. According to 247sport.com, Johnson is a 3-star prospect and the 86th best running back in the class of 2019.

Johnson joins a Syracuse backfield that returns leading rusher Moe Neal from the 2018 season, who is now a senior. Abdul Adams, a junior transfer from Oklahoma figures to see a large workload in the 2019 season. Rising sophomore Jarveon Howard will also see red zone touches after seven TD’s during his freshman campaign. Johnson and Jawhar Jordan, who grey-shirted this past season, are the two new-comers in the Orange running back room.

As a senior, Johnson ran for 870 yards and scored 22 touchdowns at Manvel. He announced his commitment via twitter:

Let’s take a look at his tape:

Johnson is a bowling ball running through tacklers. He likes to run up the middle and seeks out contact with his large frame. In addition, he has long strides that allow him to cover a lot of ground quickly, despite not having elite speed. At the :23 mark of the tape, he takes an inside handoff and shows a decent burst up the gut, making it through the line. He then runs through the diving attempt of a linebacker, reaching the secondary. In the secondary, he breaks another tackle from a DB for a hard-fought 25 yard run. He doesn’t have elite speed, but makes up for that with balance and power.

At the 1:35 mark of the tape, Johnson shows off his nose for the end zone. He takes another hand off up the middle and is met with some pop by an opposing linebacker. He takes on the defensive player, inviting contact, and powers through him finding the goal-line for one of his 22 touchdowns during his senior campaign. Jarveon Howard showed off this ability for Syracuse last season, and it looks like Johnson may also have that trait.

Johnson also appears to have played some fullback in high school. One thing that we know Dino Babers likes to use is a fullback/hybrid position in Chris Elmore. At the 2:16 mark of the tape, Johnson shows off his willingness to be a lead blocker out of the backfield. They hand it off to another back, and Johnson locates the first unblocked player in the backfield. He lowers his should and catches the defender flat-footed, bullying him to the ground.

Syracuse is getting another football player in Garrison Johnson. He is a “gadget” type player that appears to excel at multiple tasks on the field. Not only is he a violent runner, but he is a good blocker and did show off the ability to catch the ball out of the backfield on one particular play. There isn’t a ton of playing time at running back for Syracuse next season, but down the road Johnson could become a key contributor.