Texas Players Praising Freshman QB Roschon Johnson For 'Selfless' Move To RB Amid Depth Issues
AUSTIN, TX - OCTOBER 13: Zach Shackelford #56 of the Texas Longhorns and Elijah Rodriguez #72 huddle before the game against the Baylor Bears at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on October 13, 2018 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)
Texas football has plenty of talent entering the 2019 season, and a bona fide star quarterback in Sam Ehlinger. The running back position is a major issue due to injuries, though. Things have gotten so dire, that freshman quarterback Roschon Johnson is now playing emergency running back.
Earlier in the week, Tom Heman said that the "level of concern is high" with the position. Keaontay Ingram and Jordan Whittington are a talented duo that are ready to go against Louisiana Tech on Saturday, but they are the only two scholarship backs healthy.
Kirk Johnson is out with a clavicle injury, while Daniel Young has an ankle injury. Neither is on the Week 1 depth chart.
Enter Roschon Johnson, a four-star member of Texas' 2019 class and the No. 6 dual-threat quarterback in the class.
It doesn't sound like there are any plans to make that position change a permanent thing, but right now he is the "break glass in case of emergency" option in the backfield. To his credit, it sounds like he has embraced the situation and is doing whatever he needs to help the team.
His teammates certainly appreciate it. From 247Sports:
“Pretty much just poured his heart out to us was like, 'You know what, I'll play any position,'” (OL Zach) Shackelford said. “Just a ton of respect for Roschon for doing that because it's not easy to do — coming out of high school playing one position and switching to the other — but he's going to do great things.”
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"I think he's done a tremendous job,” Ehlinger said. “I mean, what a selfless dude. To be moved to the running back position just for emergency cases and his work ethic hasn't dropped at all. Obviously, he's a freak athlete, he knows the offense really well and he always has a positive attitude about it. So I've been very proud of him."
Texas certainly hopes that Johnson can stay on the sideline over the next few weeks, but he deserves a ton of credit for stepping up and making himself available at a completely different position if necessary.
