Ju'Juan Johnson's role for LSU football at running back could expand. Here's why.
BATON ROUGE — The game comes easy to Ju'Juan Johnson.
It seems to always have. The LSU football freshman was abruptly moved from the safety position on defense to the running back position on offense last Tuesday following senior John Emery Jr. suffering a season-ending knee injury.
On a short week already as LSU got back at 5 a.m. that Monday from Las Vegas where it lost its season opener 27-20 to USC, Johnson was thrust into a new role and had just a handful of days to pick up enough to be a contributor against Nicholls on Saturday at Tigers Stadium.
"Early indications are he picks things up fast, he's a quick study, the game comes easy to him," LSU football coach Brian Kelly said of the freshman playmaker.
Johnson's always had the ball in his hands. At Lafayette Christian Academy in high school, just shy of 65 miles from LSU's campus, the speedster earned Louisiana Mr. Football honors last season playing quarterback while setting state high school records for 14,451 career total yards and 171 career touchdowns.
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Some of that natural ability came to the surface in his first game for the Tigers on Saturday, catching three passes for 16 yards and his first TD in an LSU jersey.
The move initially by the coaching staff was a knee-jerk switch to plug up a depth problem at running back, which had just three scholarship players before Johnson was moved.
But seeing him in that role in one game, Kelly told reporters Monday he wants Johnson to be more involved for the foreseeable future.
"We're going to lay as much as we can on him. And I think he's capable," Kelly said. "I'm a big believer in give him as much as he can handle. He's not a guy that will shy away from any of it.
"I'm excited. I want to continue to give him more and more and see where it goes. That's where we're at right now."
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Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Why Brian Kelly likes Ju'Juan Johnson on offense for LSU football
