Denver Broncos undrafted free agent wide receiver Brandon Johnson has some significant ties to the team that shouldn’t go unnoticed.
The Denver Broncos once again have a strong rookie class coming into the 2022 NFL season but it’s not just the higher draft picks worth keeping close tabs on.
The undrafted free agent group is once again a fascinating one but it’s easy to overlook so many of these young players simply because of the positions they play.
Specifically and namely, the wide receiver position group is an easy one to overlook, even though every year the Denver Broncos seem to have a gem at least land on their practice squad.
Much of the focus this offseason has been on the top players at the position but even guys like Kendall Hinton and Travis Fulgham are receiving some hype.
It’s probably time to take a more serious look at Broncos undrafted rookie Brandon Johnson.
Denver Broncos UDFA Brandon Johnson has strong ties to the team already
Johnson spent his first handful of years at the college level with the Tennessee Volunteers. A four-star recruit coming out of American Heritage High School in Florida, Johnson went to Tennessee to play for passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni.
Azzanni, now the Denver Broncos wide receivers coach, goes way back with Brandon Johnson. He recruited him to play college football for the Tennessee Volunteers and now has a chance to work with him at the professional level.
The connection to Azzanni is a substantial one, but the ties don’t stop there.
Johnson was a high school teammate of none other than Pat Surtain II at American Heritage for a couple of years but graduated two years ahead of the Denver Broncos’ current CB1.
Johnson’s path at the collegiate level was atypical as he took advantage of additional eligibility and actually played parts of six different seasons in college.
It turns out, that was for the best as Johnson landed on the NFL map this past season as a grad transfer with Central Florida where he caught 11 touchdown passes.
Now, he’s been impressive to seemingly everyone at Broncos OTAs, including the new man under center — Russell Wilson.
Russell Wilson said one of the coolest guys to watch play and a guy to watch for on the Broncos is Brandon Johnson
— Zac Stevens (@ZacStevensDNVR) June 17, 2022
It may only be on the practice squad initially, but there’s a lot going for young Brandon Johnson right now.
Johnson is the son of former MLB Gold Glove catcher Charles Johnson, who won a World Series with the Florida Marlins and had a brief stint in Denver himself as a member of the Colorado Rockies.
While it’s cool that Johnson’s dad was a great MLB player and it’s an interesting coincidence that he played high school football with Pat Surtain II, what’s more than just a cool anecdote is Johnson’s tie to Zach Azzanni.
Azzanni obviously talked to a lot of the guys the Denver Broncos have brought in over the last handful of years when he was a major recruiter for a major SEC team, but you just can’t help but wonder if this one might have some weight to it.
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Azzanni has done a tremendous job of developing the receivers in Denver and perhaps with Brandon Johnson, we could be looking at one of the team’s next developmental gems at the position.