Silver Lining With 2025 Injuries
May 14th, 2026
Tez Johnson with his 2025 season highlight 45-yard TD catch.
Joe can’t recall a Bucs offense more riddled with injuries than the offense last year. But there was a hidden blessing behind the march to the sideline peep show tent.
Tez Johnson showed the NFL wasn’t too big for him.
A seventh-round rookie pick out of Oregon, Johnson came with the obvious question marks. Generally, seventh-round picks are bubble guys. Maybe special teams guys. Instead, he was pressed into duty and Bucs wide receivers coach Bryan McClendon said Tuesday Tez not just impressed Bucs coaches but showed he can be counted on.
Injuries forced Tez to grow into an NFL player very quickly.
“Yeah, I mean, there’s nothing like game reps, you know? There’s nothing that gets somebody ready more than having to get on the line,” McClendon said of Johnson.
“And there are very real consequences on whether you do it right and we win, or you screw it up and we lose, right?
“… Older guys have been in those situations a lot, so [Bucs coaches] can kind of lean on them a lot right now, and a little bit more in certain situations than you can some of those younger guys.”
But that began to change during the San Francisco win at The Licht House. Mike Evans was out. Chris Godwin was out. Emeka Egbuka left with an injury.
The Bucs were down to a seventh-round pick, Tez, and an undrafted free agent, Kam Johnson, who had a grand total of one target and no catches in his previous 10 NFL games.
Tez came up big with a 45-yard touchdown catch in a 30-19 Bucs win, punctuated by a cartwheel.
“So when we got banged up and [Tez] had to play those game reps, you saw him, you saw the trajectory of him getting better,” McClendon said. “[Tez] just drastically changed for the better just because he got put in those kinds of, you know, life or death situations when it comes to real ball and real life consequences to doing it right and doing it wrong.”
In back-to-back weeks at Seattle and home against San Francisco, Tez had five total catches and a touchdown. After the win over the 49ers, Tez went on a tear: 13 catches and 3 touchdowns in the next four games.
Not too shabby for a seventh-round pick.
The Bucs’ receivers room is deep, no doubt. But now Tez is no longer a stranger to NFL defensive coordinators. They surely have adjusted.
Now, can Tez come up with a counter to those adjustments?
TEZ JOHNSON TD! WHAT A CATCH AND WHAT A FLIP
SFvsTB on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/UtKZZW6YXw
— NFL (@NFL) October 12, 2025
May 14th, 2026 at 6:18 am
Love the end zone flip. Reminds me of Ozzie Smith.
May 14th, 2026 at 6:43 am
one of the top ten catches in bucs history for sure. best play of the crappy year. he did all the same things in college, he’s a play maker and a little stud he just needs continued opportunity to get looks
May 14th, 2026 at 6:49 am
Joe Says: The Bucs’ receivers room is deep, no doubt. But now Tez is no longer a stranger to NFL defensive coordinators. They surely have adjusted.
^^^^^^
But the big question is will the Bucs defensive coordinator adjust and is he capable of doing so?
May 14th, 2026 at 6:57 am
Man….good times….
May 14th, 2026 at 7:46 am
Zac will use Tez in multiple ways that will be way better than the Grizzard did.
There will injuries in the group at some point. Tez and Teddy will answer the bell.
May 14th, 2026 at 7:57 am
There’s going to be a fight for the 5th and possible 6th WR roster spots this summer.
May 14th, 2026 at 8:00 am
The Bucs receiving room was deep last year
But, the offense averaged 16.8 ppg during the last 7 games
Which the Bucs went 2-5, they had zero passing game
Every NFL team receiving room is deep with 6-7 WRs
We were carrying 4 TE, 6 WRs, 4 RBs
And averaged less than 220 passing yards per game
May 14th, 2026 at 8:04 am
Plus category
Good hands
Great open field elusiveness
.
Negative category
Very light weight and build
Average speed
.
He has much better competition for the last WR spot this year
May 14th, 2026 at 8:42 am
We’ve had a million guys like Tez. They had a good little run and then they get hurt or someone offers them a few more bucks. At least this guy had a few good games like Scotty Miller or (Justin?) Watson.. We’re had a heap of hyped up receivers who never did actually have a good game .
May 14th, 2026 at 8:53 am
Justin Watson is not a small WR.
May 14th, 2026 at 9:45 am
Good video. For all the dolts who say Baker can’t throw long, watch that video again. While you are at it, watch the 65 yard airtime strike to EE in the Seattle game. Tez is an exciting player but have to be careful with him on slant/seam routes where he can really get wacked.