Quarterback Josh Johnson threw 43 touchdowns his senior season at the University of San Diego, but that's not the number that has him emerging from football obscurity.
He made just one critical mistake in the midst of all that success. One interception.
And that wasn't even his fault.
"It was a scramble play and I was rolling out," said the lanky quarterback at the Scouting Combine. "I kind of threw it slightly across my body. It kind of ricocheted off the tight end’s chest up in the air and (the defender) caught it."
At 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds, Johnson looks more like a starting guard on the Toreros basketball team. He weighed in at just more than 200 pounds at the Combine and casually said it could be the most he's ever put on his lean frame.
He doesn't look like a quarterback and that may explain the non-quarterback numbers he put up last season. Johnson led Division I-AA schools in passing efficiency and total offense last season and was the Player of the Game at the East-West Shrine Game in January.
He completed 69 percent of his passes and leaves school as the NCAA's all-time leader in passing efficiency (176.6).
Johnson was one of the nation's best kept quarterback secrets when he entered the pre-draft prospects, but didn't appear over-matched at the Combine surrounded by nationally-recognized talent. He was, after all, a celebrity on his school's tiny campus and in the city of San Diego.
"The city of San Diego, it appreciates football and, once we started winning, we started getting a lot of notoriety throughout the city," he said. "I think that helped a lot because we got to experience different things within the media, got to experience a lot of attention and it was able to prepare us.
"You don’t get a lot of attention outside of your city. I can go outside (and) if I didn’t have this sweater on, nobody probably would notice me. That’s just life as a small-school player... Nobody came in with a five-star tag on them. No one was highly recruited. We were all paying for school and we all just wanted to play football in college and we worked real hard for it."
Somewhere along the way he picked up an uncanny ability to protect the football.
Remember the one interception?
"It started in high school a little bit because I got cussed out every time I threw an interception," Johnson said. "Then (former San Diego coach Jim) Harbaugh, he implemented it more in my head. If it’s not there, don’t fight it. In our offense, the West Coast offense, it was always the checkdowns. And I had the ability to run. He just told me to take what they give you and sometimes they’re going to guess right and, if you’re not able to do anything, you can always throw it away. The way I look at it, if I’m not hurting my team, then we’re making progress. So the more positive plays the better."
It won't be as easy to avoid interceptions at the professional level. Johnson is projected as a third-round pick by NFLDraftScout.com.
Johnson is confident his performance at the East-West Shirne Game and his top-rated 40-yard dash time (4.55) will hold up to NFL scrutiny, but not paint him as a different player.
"Anyone who has actually seen my film, they understand the way I play the game," he said at the Combine. "I drop back, and I never just tuck it and run. I go through my progressions, and then take off and run. A lot of teams, there was two options they tried to do. They tried to all-out blitz us to get me to get rid of the ball, and that’s what I did or they’ll drop seven or eight men in coverage. The defense is going to guess right sometimes and it is my ability to run, that’s why I run for a lot of yards. This year I had only two rushing touchdowns. My passing numbers exceed my rushing numbers tremendously."
Two rushing touchdowns. Another small number to help define a unique passer from a small school.
His NFL future is still a mystery, but a modest approach has also helped Johnson prepare for just about anything.
"You never know what can happen," he said. "Second string, you’re one play away. Third string you’re two plays away. It’s just, you have to always be prepared , especially at this position. It can all change for you because the quarterback is the most important position on the field and you can go from a nobody to a Super Bowl winner in the snap of a finger. Tom Brady did it and you just never know. You have to always be prepared for that."
RELATED LINKS:
- MYFALCONSDRAFT:Rank draft prospects at MyFalconsDraft.com
- QUARTERBACKS: Previewing the quarterbacks
- PHOTOS: Photos of some of the 2008 NFL Draft prospects
- NFL DRAFT: Draft coverage from AtlantaFalcons.com
- SCOUTING COMBINE: AF.com at the Scouting Combine
- SENIOR BOWL: AF.com at the Senior Bowl
