Taron Johnson got out of the doghouse when Buffalo Bills last played the Kansas City Chiefs
Sal MaioranaThe last time the Buffalo Bills played the Kansas City Chiefs, nickel cornerback Taron Johnson stood on the sidelines and watched as former University at Buffalo standout Cam Lewis trotted onto the field to start the game at his position.
Johnson, who had been the Bills’ primary nickel corner for most of the two-plus seasons leading to that rainy night at Bills Stadium, was benched against Patrick Mahomes and the explosive Chiefs, and deservedly so.
The entire defense started 2020 poorly and Johnson’s ragged play in the slot made him the face of the struggles for Leslie Frazier’s unit, so the decision was made to shake things up and give Lewis a chance.
However, after playing just 10 snaps, Lewis was knocked out of the game with a wrist injury, so the Bills turned back to Johnson and that has proved to be a touchstone moment for the Buffalo defense.
Johnson’s play improved immediately and over the past three months he has been one of the most consistent and reliable defenders the Bills have. Oh, and he has also had a flair for the dramatic.
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He made one of the biggest plays of the game in a critical victory over Pittsburgh when he returned a Ben Roethlisberger interception 51 yards for a touchdown, and then made the play of the season last Saturday night with his 101-yard pick six in the playoff victory over Baltimore.
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“It’s a great example of perseverance and him being resilient,” coach Sean McDermott said. “The X and O’s are certainly important, but you’ve got to have the right people. It hasn’t been easy for a guy like Taron, but he’s persevered.”
Buffalo’s 2018 draft will be remembered, of course, for the selection of Allen at No. 7 overall and then linebacker Tremaine Edmunds at No. 16. Overlooked at that time was the swing general manager Brandon Beane took in the fourth round on Johnson, an undersized player at 5-foot-11 and 192 pounds who played at the college outpost of Weber State.
The Bills had a clear need at nickel corner and they loved Johnson’s quickness and willingness to tackle, not always something cornerbacks enjoy, a point McDermott made right after the draft was complete: “He tackles, which it seems like is a lost art for a lot of DB’s, corners in particular, in this league, so that’s something we look for."
Johnson was the kind of player McDermott loves because beyond how he played, Johnson was a kid who had worked hard for every morsel he ever received and did it despite some trying circumstances, losing his mother to breast cancer at the age of 9.
“I really didn’t understand what happened at that time,” Johnson told his hometown newspaper, the Sacramento Bee. “I remember there was a time she was fine, then she went to the hospital, and I thought I’d see her, but I didn’t know she was that sick, didn’t understand. I was really shocked.”
He focused on athletics and became a two-way high football school star as a wide receiver and defensive back, but scholarship offers were few and far between – in fact, there were only two, Sacramento State and Weber State.
Playing far away from the limelight in the Big Sky Conference, Johnson set a program record with 42 career pass breakups and as a senior in 2017 he earned the conference’s defensive player of the year award and became Weber State’s first Senior Bowl invitee in 18 years.
Bills’ assistant GM Joe Schoen had seen Johnson play in person the same weekend he first saw Allen play for Wyoming, and then at the Senior Bowl with all of the top Bills’ brass on hand, Johnson had an impressive week and the Bills began to take a major interest.
“I remember watching him in the all-star games when he was coming out of college and just seeing how competitive he was,” Frazier said. “I think we were in the one-on-one drills maybe at the Senior Bowl. He was just competing on every single snap like it was a game situation. We’re always looking for that competitive guy to help us in the secondary for sure, but competitive guys that fit our DNA. And so that kind of struck me. And then when we had a chance to talk with him and visit with him, you can see that eagerness, that passion that he has for the game and that desire to be the best.”
Johnson’s rookie year was beset by a series of injuries and he missed five games, parts of a couple others, and was less than 100 percent almost all year. Still, he showed real promise when he was on the field, made one interception and held opponents to a 65.9 catch percentage.
More of the same in 2019 as he missed four games early yet still pushed through and turned in a solid performance for one of the league’s best defense.
But this year, for whatever reason, Johnson really stumbled out of the gate. In the first five games he was targeted 34 times and allowed 27 receptions (79.4% catch rate) for 306 yards per Pro Football Focus, leading to his brief benching against the Chiefs.
“The problem was for him, just being injured all the time; he’d be in the lineup, then out of the lineup, so he wasn’t able to get that continuity that we want,” Frazier said of Johnson’s first two seasons. “Then this season, with the offseason and training camp being like it was, he needed a training camp, he needed an offseason and didn’t get it. Started slow for us, was struggling early on and we made a change. To his credit, he didn’t get over there and sulk, didn’t pout. Got back in the lineup and his game just really took off and he’s become the player that he is now.”
Johnson said simply regarding the start of the season, “I would say I just took it one day at a time. Some things are out of my control and you just have to deal with it. I can’t worry about things that are out of my control.”
Since that night against the Chiefs, Johnson has been targeted 67 times and allowed 47 catches (70.1%), he has the two huge interceptions, and he finished the regular season with 95 tackles after making a combined 91 his first two seasons.
And now, everything comes full circle as the Bills head to Kansas City for the AFC championship game with Johnson entrenched at nickel, a player the Chiefs will have to be wary of.
“We’re excited,” Johnson said. “It’s not done yet, we’re not done yet. We’re trying to get to the big show.”
