“He’s Gotta Grasp The Offense”
August 20th, 2025
Rookie receiver Tez Johnson.
Baker Mayfield told Yahoo! Sports this week that the Bucs offense is a hard one to learn.
However, Mayfield also said rookie Emeka Egbuka has the offense mastered so it’s not too hard for a rookie. And Mayfield said Egbuka sets a standard for all Bucs young players that are a little shaky with the playbook.
Is rookie receiver/returner Tez Johnson one of those guys? It seems so.
“He’s gotta grasp the offense,” Todd Bowles said of Johnson after today’s practice. “He’s been out for a while. So he’s still on a learning curve right now. But we’ll see how much we can take in and see how well he does on gameday on Saturday.”
This intrigued Joe, in part because this week Bowles also said rookie cornerback Benjamin Morrison didn’t need a bunch of practices to be ready to play in the regular season. Bowles’ defense is considered difficult, and it seems to be extra hard for edge rushers.
Go back and watch the Week 1 film against the Commanders. Bucs receiver Trey Palmer seemed to struggle with his presnap role, and the next three weeks his snaps were cut severely in Liam Coen’s new offense.
Joe wonders where Johnson really stacks up with his playbook knowledge.
August 20th, 2025 at 11:07 am
Coach Speak.
August 20th, 2025 at 11:20 am
Joe, I went and watched the youtube highlights. I’m not even sure what you see. Trey had a few snaps. He caught one ball on a curl route to the sideline, and I think that was it.
August 20th, 2025 at 11:40 am
He has the yips!
Made the wrong cut into the pursuit on his big run.
Chased and then touched a punt he let hit the ground when the defenders were thundering down the field.
Fair catch signal inside the 10 yard line.
Signaled a fair catch around the 20 and then let the punt go over his head rather than catch the punt.
The other UDFA rookie QB converted to WR , Green?, looking Much better!
August 20th, 2025 at 11:59 am
I really don’t see how Morrison will be ready for the Falcons
Just because he’s watching film and studying the playbook, that don’t make you ready for a game. Anyone can watch film and studyi a playbook. You get ready by playing football ( Practice and Games). You can’t learn a defense unless you’re playing, there’s so many different defensive calls, schemes, you only learn them by actually playing. Todd Bowles is blowing a lot of hot air. He don’t know when Morrison will be ready. He definitely won’t be ready for the Falcons
August 20th, 2025 at 12:07 pm
I don’t know exactly Morrison is or not, but he seems awfully fragile. Even moreso than Dean.
August 20th, 2025 at 12:08 pm
How ready
August 20th, 2025 at 12:15 pm
He will be ready to dress out
Dean, MCCollum, Parrish, Hall will get the snaps
August 20th, 2025 at 12:15 pm
If I was Tez the flyweight.. I’d have the yips too..
These aren’t college boys..
August 20th, 2025 at 12:19 pm
This sounds like a situation where a head coach and his offensive coordinator would stand back and say to themselves, “We have several receivers who know the playbook but are out with injury. We better simplify things if we are depending on new guys.”
August 20th, 2025 at 12:24 pm
SB~LV Says:
He has the yips!
^agreed. Johnson showed us he is not physically or mentally ready for the NFL. Yes, the college tape is great, but the NFL is a different beast. You can’t just run out of bounds because you can’t take a hit. There’s a reason the Broncos picked a punter in the 6th round over drafting Johnson despite the fanbase asking for the feel-good adopted brothers reunite story. Bo knows Tez is not it. He’s literally the smallest player ever drafted in the league, and he’s not even fast for his size. A comp like Tank Dell has over 10lbs on him and look at his injuries. One big hit and Tez is done for the season, that’s why he’s playing scared, sliding instead of getting tackled, missing an easy catch and of course the lamest muffed punt return. Could he be a Tank Dell with a year on the practice squad and getting up to 165lb? Possibly.
August 20th, 2025 at 12:52 pm
Tez & Palmer should race for the roster spot lol
August 20th, 2025 at 12:59 pm
Tez will be the returner. He will probably be involved in 2 or 3 plays offensively.
No worries.
August 20th, 2025 at 1:03 pm
Wow. Surprising to hear Palmer is still struggling. To me Tez and Miller have the inside track for WR 6-7.
After that probably Kam & Greene might be slightly ahead of Jarrett for practice squad. Seems like Palmer is going to be cut
August 20th, 2025 at 1:07 pm
Tez could easily be cut next Tuesday and then brought back to the PS .
NO team is going to pick him up for their final 53 .
We don’t need two Palmers !
Palmer > Tez and that’s not saying much.
August 20th, 2025 at 1:09 pm
Took more than half the season for McMillan to look comfortable last year. I would not count on Tez looking All Pro any time soon. Regardless of the complexity of the offense. Palmer is not likely to be on the 53.
Go Bucs!
August 20th, 2025 at 1:13 pm
Seems he needs to learns the basics of being a returner as well, no confidence till he deserves confidence.
August 20th, 2025 at 1:27 pm
I want to see more of Greene this Saturday. If he shines, the Bucs may just consider him for the 53.
August 20th, 2025 at 1:28 pm
At least Jaquez Green had burner speed!
Bucs have been chasing “that returner “
forever!
Saturday night will be interesting for the last roster spots.
August 20th, 2025 at 1:30 pm
Not exactly what you want to be said about you when you have very little time before cuts. Not ideal at all.
August 20th, 2025 at 2:14 pm
The little guy has a big mouth and a big ego, but apparently isn’t very bright, doesn’t study hard enough, or both. But at least he can spaz out and fumble a punt, whil also being adept at dropping easy passes.
Adios, little guy. Some were entertained by you.
August 20th, 2025 at 2:20 pm
Emeka Egbuka has the offense mastered so it’s not too hard for a rookie.
Not all rookies are created the same. Some are fast, some slow. Some are smart, some, well….
August 20th, 2025 at 5:02 pm
Egbuka played in a pro-style offense. Oregon has elements of concepts used in the pros, but their offense as a whole doesn’t translate to hit offenses operate in the NFL.
Browns are finding that out now, and that’s why Sheduer looked better than Gabriel, outside of being bigger and better at playing QB
August 20th, 2025 at 5:34 pm
Warren Brooks Lynch Says:
“Egbuka played in a pro-style offense. Oregon has elements of concepts used in the pros, but their offense as a whole doesn’t translate to hit offenses operate in the NFL.
Browns are finding that out now, and that’s why Sheduer looked better than Gabriel, outside of being bigger and better at playing QB”
^On the money. Tez needs a year on PS to get up to speed, build his brain and body muscle, whereas EE is ready to roll day one—the difference in programs (and individual readiness/maturity).
August 20th, 2025 at 5:51 pm
He may not know the offense but at least he is small and slow!
August 20th, 2025 at 6:23 pm
I like Tez a lot, his college tape is fantastic – but even so at his size I think he’s mostly going to be a returner and gadget player. One thing he has in favor for him playing WR is his height, he’s taller than your typical tiny WR, and that might give him more of a chance running routes than say Thompkins, who was light and short. Anywho, I don’t see how he doesn’t make the team as a returner unless he’s an idiot who is constantly screwing up behind the scenes – and one bad decision in his first NFL game, a preseason game, I’m not going to hold that against him forever. Now if he goes out this week and does it again, that’s a different story.