Welcome back to Parsons’ Profiles, the NFL Draft countdown series where I examine the professional future of one Duck per day until the 2025 NFL Draft begins on April 24. Yesterday, I discussed quarterback Dillon Gabriel’s past and future. Today, I’ll do the same for receiver Tez Johnson.

Years ago, Johnson dreamed of one day playing football for the Ducks. Now, with that dream achieved, Johnson is weeks away from achieving another: Playing receiver in the National Football League.

Johnson’s underdog tale is a story of tragedy, family, football and an Oregon sweatshirt. It began in government-subsidized housing in Pinson, Alabama, which Johnson grew up in after losing his father to suicide as an infant.

His mother, Shamika Posey, felt she could not provide the same quality of life that Johnson’s high school football coach, Pat Nix, could provide for him. When Johnson was 15 years old, Posey made the difficult decision to let the Nix family unofficially adopt him.

“It wasn’t necessarily the plan for me to stay,” Johnson said to ESPN’s Marty Smith. “It was a plan for me to go over and stay two or three days and leave. I knew when I walked in, I didn’t want to leave.”

Living at the Nix household allowed Johnson to grow closer with Pinson Valley High School quarterback and future Duck Bo Nix. The two formed a brotherly bond and won Pinson Valley its second straight Class 6A state championship in 2018.

Nix graduated that same year and committed to Auburn University. Though Johnson was a year below Nix and remained in Pinson for his senior year, their brotherhood remained.

Johnson graduated Pinson Valley in 2019, but was ranked only the nation’s 275th-best receiver and the 79th-best player in Alabama. He committed to Troy University, where he’d play the next three years.

Johnson played in 11 games as a COVID freshman (no NCAA eligibility affected) in 2020, finishing with 18 catches for 211 yards. As a freshman in 2021, he led the Trojans with 67 catches, 735 receiving yards and four receiving touchdowns, also tallying a fifth on the ground. As a result, Johnson was named third-team All-Sun Belt.

He led Troy again as a sophomore with 56 catches for 836 yards, with his four receiving touchdowns second to RaJae’ Johnson’s (no relation) seven. However, Johnson only received an honorable mention from the Sun Belt, and eventually entered the transfer portal in Dec. 2022.

By this time, Nix had left Auburn and transferred to Oregon, where in his first season he’d taken the Ducks to a 10-3 record and a Holiday Bowl victory. That offseason, Nix took a look at the Ducks’ depleted receiving corps, considered his brother in the transfer portal, and had an idea.

“We needed some receivers, because some guys had graduated, some guys had transferred,” Nix said to ESPN’s Smith. “And I was like, ‘I know a guy.’”

After head coach Dan Lanning and then-receivers coach Junior Adams researched Johnson, they agreed to make the transfer an offer.

Johnson, who once received a Ducks hoodie as a childhood gift, had already dreamed of playing for Oregon for most of his life. In fact, Johnson was wearing an Oregon sweatshirt the night he was “adopted” by the Nix family. 

Only five years removed from that fateful night, Johnson was back in the Nix household when he received a life-changing call from Adams, who officially offered him a spot on the roster. Johnson immediately agreed, hung up the phone, and said “I’m a Duck.”

When Johnson made the switch to Eugene before the 2023 season, most Ducks fans knew him simply as Nix’s brother. They would quickly find out that the move had resulted in more than just a feel-good reunion.

Johnson saw starting reps as a slot receiver in 2023, but didn’t truly break out until November, when he hauled in 12 catches for 180 yards and two touchdowns in a home victory over Cal. He continued to make an impact all the way through the 2024 Fiesta Bowl, where his 11 catches for 172 yards and a touchdown earned him the game’s MVP award. 

Johnson finished the season with 86 catches (a program record), 1,182 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns, which earned him significant hype entering the 2024 season. Now competing in the Big Ten alongside transfer Dillon Gabriel, Johnson tallied 83 catches for 898 yards and 10 touchdowns as a senior, leading the team in all categories and earning second-team All-Big Ten honors as a result.

After two productive years with the Ducks, Johnson was invited to both the Reese’s Senior Bowl and the 2025 NFL Combine, where NFL hopefuls display their skills in the hopes of improving their draft stock.

At the Senior Bowl, Johnson did just that, wowing scouts and players alike with his quickness and route-running ability. Florida State University cornerback Azareye’h Thomas named Johnson as the toughest wideout he dealt with during the first day of practices.

However, things didn’t go so smoothly at the NFL Combine. The problems began when Johnson weighed in at just 154 pounds, the lightest weight of any combine attendant this year by almost 10 pounds. Similar weight concerns nearly caused 40-yard dash king Xavier Worthy (5’11, 165 pounds) to slip out of the first round last year.

Johnson made matters worse when he ran only the 27th-fastest 40-yard dash time of the day, a mediocre 4.55 seconds. That’s not exactly slow, but scouts would prefer that time from a big-bodied vertical threat, not a skinny slot receiver. Johnson had also previously told reporters that “if you blink, you might not see me.”

Thankfully, Johnson performed well in other areas, finishing the three-cone drill in a combine-best 6.65 seconds and tallying the highest speed among receivers (21.77 mph) during drills. However, most post-combine attention focused on Johnson’s shortcomings, throwing doubt as to when Johnson might be drafted.

Johnson chose not to re-attempt the 40-yard dash at Oregon’s Pro Day on March 18.

“That’s my time, I’m going to own up to it,” Johnson said afterwards. “You can watch my tape and see no one can catch me. (The 40-yard dash doesn’t) define you as a football player. It just shows that you can run a fast time.”

We won’t know exactly what the future holds for Johnson, but we can make an educated guess. The Cleveland Browns, who hold ten draft picks — including seven picks between rounds four and six — hosted Johnson for a Top-30 visit back in March. 

Their arsenal of mid- to late-round selections makes them an ideal candidate to take Johnson. However, an even more obvious connection exists with the Denver Broncos, who are building around Nix as their franchise quarterback and are still in the market for a slot receiver.

“I’m pretty sure everybody in here knows what it would feel like if I got my name called by the Broncos,” a smiling Johnson said during combine interviews. “…But I’m willing to play for any team.

Johnson was a truly dynamic playmaker at Oregon, and I believe he has the skills needed to make the same impact as a starting slot receiver at the professional level. However, his slight frame comes with risks, and I’m not sure any team will be willing to take such a chance before the fourth round begins on April 26.

Ultimately, Johnson’s future will depend on whether teams prioritize his combine numbers or his game tape. I’d expect Johnson to be drafted in the fourth, fifth or sixth round, where he could one day be considered a major steal. 

In the right system, Johnson could provide immediate impact in the slot, where he was a reception machine at Oregon. Johnson also provides upside as a punt/kick returner, as he took a punt return 85 yards to the house in Oregon’s Week 2 win over Boise State University last fall.

Johnson’s professional future remains unknown, but you wouldn’t know it by talking to him. “You’re gonna win a Super Bowl with me, 100 percent,” said Johnson at the combine.

Tomorrow, Parsons’ Profiles will focus on a Duck whose athleticism and versatility make him an appealing professional prospect with trick-play potential.