Austin

Johnson

Oliver popped up on the team’s injury report Thursday and has now been ruled out for the week. The veteran lineman hopefully won’t miss more than a game, but he’s one of several Bills defenders who have already been ruled out for Week 5. In addition to Oliver, head coach Sean McDermott also said DT Austin Johnson (oblique) and S Taylor Rapp (concussion) won’t play vs. the Texans.

The news was first reported by now-teammate DaQuan Jones, whom played alongside Johnson at Penn State as well as with the Titans, and later confirmed by Ian Rapoport. The Bills have no shortage of elite defensive linemen on the roster, with Johnson joining Jones, Von Miller, Ed Oliver, A.J. Epenesa, and Greg Rousseau, amongst others. The team is coming off a season in which they allowed just 18.7 points per game, third in the league, due in large part to their disruptive defensive line. Johnson’s one-year deal is worth a maximum of $4 million.

Johnson was helped off the field by the training staff before being carted from the sideline to the locker room. Though his return is questionable, it doesn’t look like he will return to this game. The Falcons have gashed the Chargers on the ground all game and that will continue with LA’s starting nose tackle seemingly done for the day.

Johnson suffered an MCL injury and a fractured knee against the Falcons in Week 9. It is another blow for a defense currently without Joey Bosa and J.C. Jackson because of injury. Christian Covington will likely see more snaps with Johnson on the shelf.

The severity is still to be determined and the Chargers will know more tomorrow, but it sounds like Johnson will probably miss some games. Johnson left the locker room on crutches with a brace on his knee. He left Week 9’s game against the Falcons and had to be carted to the locker room.

The deal is worth “up to” $14 million. A run-plugger, Johnson should be a worthy reinforcement for a Chargers defense that got destroyed on the ground in 2021. Highly durable, Johnson also tallied a career-high three sacks last season. He had never played more than 400 snaps before logging 665 in 2021, but that workload could be dialed back to early-down specialist levels in Los Angeles.

It’s a depth move since the team could ultimately lose Dalvin Tomlinson in free agency. Johnson, 31, continued being used sparingly as an up-the-gut run-stuffer in his lone season with New York, playing 231 (21%) defensive snaps off the bench. He’ll stay in a similar role this upcoming year.

A sporadic starter in Tennessee, Johnson typically plays in the 375-400 snap range as a pure run stuffer. A fifth-year pro, Johnson is still relatively young at two months shy of his 26th birthday. He will be a role-playing hog molly for GM Dave Gettleman’s Giants.

Johnson is a mediocre athlete, but plays as big as his 6-foot-4, 314 pound frame on the interior. He can’t rush the passer, but is a high-motor player, and should prove capable of gobbling up snaps in the middle.

Johnson (6'4/314) made 28 starts in three seasons with the Nittany Lions, tallying 8.5 career sacks and earning first-team All-Big Ten honors in 2015. Although Johnson possesses baseline athletic ability at best — 5.32 forty, 8'3" broad jump — he is a massive-framed interior lineman with a relentless motor and two-gapping potential. Even with scant pass-rush skills, Johnson should be able to forge a career as a block-eating five-, one- or zero-technique tackle.