Saints rookie linebacker Johnson says it’s time to make impression
 

Though there was more playing time available because teammates at his position dealt with injuries, rookie New Orleans Saints linebacker Rufus Johnson turned in nondescript outings in his first two preseason games.

He didn’t post any of the sacks the Saints recorded in wins against Kansas City and Oakland, and he didn’t make a tackle.

Johnson’s lack of statistics doesn’t mean he’s doing a poor job for the Saints, for whom he is suiting up at linebacker after playing defensive end in college. But he hopes to strengthen his odds of landing on the team’s active roster by making some plays around the ball the rest of this preseason, and Sunday’s showdown with the Houston Texans represents his next chance to begin doing that.

“I’ve been a little quiet so far,” Johnson said Tuesday. “This game is going to be a huge opportunity. I’m ready to come out explosive and play hard.”

Johnson, 23, was an all-district player at Spruce High in Dallas and attracted recruiting attention from universities such as Mississippi State and Baylor.

But he was a nonqualifier and enrolled at Kilgore Junior College in Texas.

He later transferred to Tarleton State, where he had 15.5 sacks on 96 combined tackles in two seasons as a defensive end. He won second-team Division II All-America honors, was his conference’s defensive lineman of the year, and ran the 40-yard dash in 4.69 seconds before being drafted, prompting the Saints to believe he could mature into a productive pass rusher at outside linebacker.

Johnson headed into the summer under Victor Butler, Will Smith, Junior Galette and Martez Wilson on the depth chart at outside linebacker.

Then Butler tore an anterior cruciate ligament during organized team activities in June, and both Wilson and Galette have missed practices and the two preseason games with injuries they suffered in training camp.

Those injuries haven’t resulted in increased work for Johnson, however.

After Butler, Galette and Wilson were hurt, Johnson saw fewer preseason game snaps than did teammates Jay Richardson and Baraka Atkins, who have been rotating between linebacker and defensive end depending on whether the Saints are using a three-man or four-man front.

Read more: Saints rookie linebacker Johnson says it

I'm thinking practice squad if he clears waivers... and hopefully he does.

Re: Saints rookie linebacker Johnson says it’s time to make impression
 

Do no-qualifier mean he didn't make grades to get accepted to those schools?

Re: Saints rookie linebacker Johnson says it’s time to make impression
 

I was also confused by this and think it was poorly expressed and written.
We can only assume it means he didn't make the grades, but why not just say that?

Re: Saints rookie linebacker Johnson says it’s time to make impression
 

I believe it can be grades or too low of an ACT/SAT score. I know in the south we take the ACT, and you've got to have at least an 18 too qualify for division 1. That's why so many players down here go JUCO.

Re: Saints rookie linebacker Johnson says it’s time to make impression
 

Spot on, Rez. I'd bet a dollar to a donut that this was a case of not making a qualifying ACT score, which is a damn travesty. There is a complete lack of consideration during the process for people that just aren't "good test-takers". I knew "A/B students" in school that struggled mightily with test scores, and it had nothing to do with their intelligence level. It's nice to see that some kids, like Johnson, are finding "back roads" to success.

Re: Saints rookie linebacker Johnson says it’s time to make impression
 

Doesn't 18 on an ACT seem like a low bar to achieve? The first time I took it (and that was over 30 years ago now) I scored a 28. In those days, there weren't any practice tests or online trainings for you to prep for this.

Re: Saints rookie linebacker Johnson says it’s time to make impression
 

Per The Princeton review, scores below 15 on ACT are considered low at just about any four-year college.

Re: Saints rookie linebacker Johnson says it’s time to make impression
 

I made a 23, but most of my friends who also played ball just barely made the required 18. A 28 is really high though, we can't compare kids to you. Lol. They start giving out academic scholarships if you make that.

Re: Saints rookie linebacker Johnson says it’s time to make impression
 

I scored a 27 10+ years ago, but I was a solid test-taker. Like I said, to say that answering 100 questions in 45 minutes is a good judge of someone's intelligence level or capability to be a successful person is unfair, at best. There are so many examples throughout history of successful people (even perceived geniuses) that did not do make good test scores in grammar school/high school. Einstein comes to mind initially for me. He failed his college entrance exam, which was the equivalent to the modern day ACT/SAT at the time.

Re: Saints rookie linebacker Johnson says it’s time to make impression
 

Good point. Many folks get nervous which is understandable for such a test due to it's impact on a person's future. I was in the first group in LA that took the LEAP test and the same thing happened. I wasn't the best or smartest student by any means, but tests never rattled me. I got a 32 on the ACT and lost my scholarship for poor grades 1 semester later :dunce:

I studied education in college and there are different types of intelligence...one of those being athletic intelligence. Barry Sanders is a good example of athletic intelligence or Drew (although they also have academic inteliigence). The probelm is that it's hard to develop a school system that incorporates all intelligence/learning types. The current system leaves a student with a very low amount of retention after compelting the courses.

Re: Saints rookie linebacker Johnson says it’s time to make impression
 

You guys blew it out the water! Lol. I see you're from the coast like me. You'll probably remember these names. DeAndre Brown? #3 receiver in the nation behind only Julio Jones and A.J. Green. He went to USM because of a technicality. If not he would've been at LSU. Me and him were team mates. Vick Ballard? Perk. Trumaine Brock? Perk. Terrence Cody? Perk. John Jenkins? Perk. The list goes on. A lot of our best athletes went JUCO first.

Re: Saints rookie linebacker Johnson says it’s time to make impression
 

I remember every one of those guys (and watched most at some point in person)! Brown was a FREAK!!! His broken leg in the New Orleans bowl still haunts my memories of gruesome football injuries.

Re: Saints rookie linebacker Johnson says it’s time to make impression
 

I played cornerback, so me and him used to have some pretty heated battles in practice. That injury though....I was so hurt for him when it happened. After he had such a terrific freshman year. I wish he could stick with an NFL team.

Re: Saints rookie linebacker Johnson says it’s time to make impression
 

Dude was such a freak athlete. 6'6" 230 lbs., if I remember right, and still looked faster than anyone else on the field. Craziness. I wonder what has kept him from being able to stick. I know that had a few little nagging injuries even after he recovered from the broken leg. Maybe he is the Greg Oden of football. :-/

Re: Saints rookie linebacker Johnson says it’s time to make impression
 

He was hurt in pretty much every game we ever played and still the fastest person on the field. His ankle used to be humongous! He's probably about 250-260 lbs. now. All muscle. I can't really say why it hasn't worked out for him, I just hold out hope that it does. Because i was with him on draft night when he didn't get picked, and it was a horrible feeling for everybody.

Re: Saints rookie linebacker Johnson says it’s time to make impression
 

250-260 all muscle!!!! Almost sounds like Jimmy Graham 2.0! Ha Yeah, I always hope for the best for our south MS prospects. We're really a very underrated source of football talent. The heated rivalries between Jackson, Harrison, and Hancock county schools breeds some fierce competition. I went to Hancock, by the way. Back when we were good. My senior year (2001-2002) was our first year at 5A (the biggest class back then), and everyone said we were going to get smashed. We ended up 9-2 and missed out on south state because of a BS tiebreaker. We were tied for second in our district with Meridian, and they beat us on a points tiebreaker. Of course, Brandon HS and Jerrius Norwood were #1. That kid was another freak on the field! Hattiesburg had the #1 passing game in the state that year, and we beat them twice in one night. We won the game, and on the last snap we cleared the sidelines and sent them home with a good old fashioned ass kicking to boot. LOL I'm on a tangent reminiscing now. My bad. :-)

Re: Saints rookie linebacker Johnson says it’s time to make impression
 

I remember Norwood! My cousin won state with Moss Point against Norwood. You remember how good Bilbo was??! Man. I hear Hancock might finally be good again. We were playing our JV against them back in '08. Meridian always knocked us out the playoffs. Except my freshman year when we played Panola in state. Derek Pegues......

Re: Saints rookie linebacker Johnson says it’s time to make impression
 

I think Rufus shines Sunday. He's looked good in camp, he just hasn't shown much in the games.

He might be the 1st draft pick to be cut if he looks bad Sunday.

Re: Saints rookie linebacker Johnson says it’s time to make impression
 

Nothing personal all of our test scores are irrelevant to if this kid makes the team or not. I wish him luck.

Re: Saints rookie linebacker Johnson says it’s time to make impression
 

So far he has been a relatively disappointment. Hope he shines Sunday.

Re: Saints rookie linebacker Johnson says it’s time to make impression
 

Hope he does well also. I am not concered about any SAT. I am concerned about his football IQ.