Saskatchewan Roughriders offensive lineman Daniel Johnson had one goal above and beyond anything else over the offseason, something aimed to make him more valuable to his CFL team.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing able to play multiple positions was my thing. You can\u2019t be a one-trick pony,\u201d he said to reporters in Regina on Wednesday. \u201cThat was my focus.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson worked on the required techniques, so he could be counted on at various places in front of quarterback Trevor Harris. All that hard work has paid off.<\/p>\n
The third-year Rider is expected to get the call at left guard in Saturday\u2019s rematch against the Edmonton Elks in favour of Zach Fry, who\u2019s week to week with a knee injury. That assignment is one spot over from left tackle, where he made his CFL starting debut last season.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is my job now,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWhatever\u2019s required, I\u2019ve got to do. It\u2019s exciting. Being able to play multiple positions is a challenge, but it\u2019s a great challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n
It hasn\u2019t been the smoothest transition to pro football for the Purdue University alumnus.<\/p>\n
He spent the 2024 campaign on the practice roster after being selected by the Roughriders in the fifth round of that year\u2019s draft. His CFL career\u00a0has been mired by injuries, and he\u2019s mostly been the sixth lineman when he\u2019s been on the active roster.<\/p>\n
Being healthy has allowed him to put his refined skills to use now. Still, there\u2019s a lot to think about given he\u2019s got to be prepared to play at several spots.<\/p>\n
\u201cFootball\u2019s a learning sport, and I love learning,\u201d the 26-year-old said. \u201cThat\u2019s the big thing with me is being able to learn and understand the game, understand more positions, understand the offence. It\u2019s been awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019s still mastering some of aspects of the CFL\u00a0game. Born in a refugee camp in Nairobi, Kenya, Johnson and his family moved to London, Ont., when he was 1. Despite being a National, he\u2019s more attune with the American rules from his time in the NCAA.<\/p>\n
The Riders coaches have a white hat that\u2019s worn by one member of the staff in practice that reads, \u201cReport for D.J.\u201d The point there is to remind him to check in as an eligible receiver. Johnson takes the joke in stride.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s awesome to be able to be part of the offence and be trusted with our team and our coaches,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s certainly gaining Corey Mace\u2019s trust. The head coach has noticed tangible year-over-year growth from Johnson.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s not wet behind the ears anymore,\u201d Mace said to assembled reporters. \u201cHe\u2019s been able to play tackle for us. He\u2019s been able to play the XO. He\u2019s been able to play guard for us. He\u2019s intelligent. He\u2019s got great feet.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he\u2019s been able to play, he\u2019s played at a high level. It\u2019s been a steady trajectory for him in doing so. Love the path that he\u2019s on. Sky\u2019s the limit for that kid.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019s got to get on the field first to showcase those talents. Johnson has put himself in a better position to do that thanks to being better prepared to play multiple positions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always next man up. Having a brother down sucks,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cThe aim is to win every week. The coaches are counting on you. You\u2019ve got to be counted on.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Saskatchewan Roughriders offensive lineman Daniel Johnson had one goal above and beyond anything else over the offseason, something…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":835623,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[3878,49,48,521,522,520,3290,4398,27684,27683,1893,4401,27682,4400,4399,82],"class_list":["post-835622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-agriculture","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-contests","tag-country-music","tag-gx94","tag-manitoba-news","tag-radio","tag-rider-radio","tag-saskatchewan-news","tag-saskatchewan-roughriders","tag-saskatchewan-sports","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=835622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835622\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/835623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=835622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=835622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=835622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}