Oregon star edge rusher DJ Johnson declares for NFL Draft
Oregon edge rusher DJ Johnson has officially closed the book on his Oregon career.
Johnson, a sixth-year senior who led the Ducks in sacks this season, announced via Twitter that he has opted out of the Holiday Bowl and will enter his name in the 2023 NFL Draft.
“Thank you to Oregon and everyone who’s helped me get to where I am today,” Johnson wrote. “I’ll be entering my name into the NFL Draft. Truly Blessed for the opportunities coming.”
This season, Johnson led the Ducks with 6.0 sacks and was second on the team with 8.5 tackles for loss. He tallied 39 tackles, including 15 solo stops.
In five seasons with the Ducks, Johnson recorded 9.0 sacks and 15.0 tackles for loss. Early in his Oregon career, he split time at tight end and edge rusher.
The No. 75 overall prospect in the class of 2017, Johnson originally enrolled at Miami out of high school and spent one year with the Hurricanes before transferring to Oregon in 2018.
Earlier this month, Johnson accepted an invite to the Senior Bowl.
In his final game as a Duck, Johnson was involved in a postgame incident at Oregon State’s Reser Stadium.
Following Oregon’s loss to the Beavers on Nov. 26, a video emerged of Johnson punching a Beavers fan in the head after the fan made a comment to him while players were exiting the field.
During his Sunday press conference, Oregon coach Dan Lanning was asked about the incident and what his response was in the days that followed.
“First, it’s just gathering information,” Lanning said when asked what his reaction was to the incident and what Johnson’s status with the Oregon program is. “We don’t want to be a program that just operates based on what we don’t have; taking a deeper dive into that situation, doing some investigating on our end, really, on our end, through a few avenues.
“You realize that DJ was in a moment there that he certainly wishes he would have acted different. But, something was said that was pretty extreme to him that some people might act in a similar fashion. So, certainly not condoning the behavior; I know DJ wishes he could have that moment back. It was an intense situation, but those things happen at times and I know that he would handle it differently given the opportunity.
“Right now he’s a guy that has the opportunity to compete and move on in the NFL Draft and has put himself in the position to do that. I think he’s gonna take a chance to go to the Senior Bowl, but I don’t want to speak for DJ too much.
“I think, right now, he’s in preparation for the Draft.”
With Johnson’s departure, the Ducks are suddenly thin at the Jack linebacker position.
Sophomore Bradyn Swinson, who served as the primary backup to Johnson for much of the season, announced last week that he will enter the transfer portal. Sophomore Brandon Buckner has also entered the portal.
