Broncos LB Steven Johnson Hungry for Big Opportunity

The Denver Broncos have created a culture among their players. It’s something that I’m sure every NFL team has, but when you are a great team for as long as the Broncos have been — four straight division titles and an AFC Championship — it takes more than just guys like Peyton Manning and Von Miller, who are MVP caliber players as individuals, to make the clock tick and the wins keep coming. It takes all 53 players on the roster, from the top to the bottom, and it takes every player doing their job well, even if it means going unnoticed.

That has been more than true for linebacker Steven Johnson, a former undrafted free agent out of Kansas who has one of the coolest roads to the NFL you will ever read. It started with his high school coach telling him he wasn’t sure if he’d even start as a senior, and progressed to having to go to prep school because he didn’t receive any scholarship offers.

He walked on to a Kansas Jayhawks football program that, at the time, was basically an afterthought in the Big 12. He earned his way not only to a scholarship and starting role, but as the leading tackler in the conference and a team captain. Johnson was ready to leave Kansas right before they offered him a scholarship because he couldn’t afford tuition anymore.

He knew that there was a chance he wouldn’t be drafted coming out of college, and he wasn’t. Once again, he was a walk-on, this time for the Denver Broncos. Johnson was ‘recruited’ to play for the Broncos after the draft by Chris Harris Jr., a former undrafted player also from Kansas who played with Johnson, and knew his ability and character. Harris swayed Johnson to come to Denver, letting him know by his own example that he would be given not only a shot to compete for a roster spot, but to play immediately.

Johnson came into the league with the same chip on his shoulder you see from so many guys who have to fight and bust their butts just to even make the roster year in and year out, even guys like him who made his mark as a special teams ace for the Denver Broncos as a rookie.

Once again this season, he is among the Broncos’ best special teams players (highest graded player behind Brandon McManus, who is an elite kickoff specialist), and he is now getting a shot to play some defense. Aside from this season’s initial top three on the depth chart, Johnson is the guy who has played the most snaps for Jack Del Rio defensively, proving his versatility as a player after picking off a couple of passes in the preseason and showing that he’s the type of guy who is not only willing to work, but he knows how to be in the right place at the right time.

With the injuries to other players at linebacker, Johnson is now the veteran of the group along with Von Miller, and is vocalizing his leadership. He’s ready for the Bengals and the opportunity he has.

”I don’t think there’s any drop-off, because I look at all these guys over here, and they’ve got that hunger in their eye, just like I got,” Johnson said. ”Because all of us at the beginning of the year weren’t starters, but now we’re out there starting and the team is counting on us. We’re kind of relishing that opportunity.

”I guarantee you on Monday you’re going to see some linebackers flying around, just like, ‘What in the world?’ You know what I mean? That’s just the attitude we’re taking. We’re ready to go.”