A Cincinnati native who attended nearby Summit Country Day School, Johnson joined Bengals' practice squad in December 2025 ... Spent entire rookie season in 2024 on Houston's practice squad, after originally signing with Buffalo as college free agent ... Played six seasons (2018-23) at Ohio State, where he played in 56 career games after initially joining Buckeyes as a walk-on ... Played football, basketball, lacrosse and track at Summit Country Day.
Career transactions: Signed with Buffalo as college free agent on 5-10-24 ... Waived by Bills on 8-27-24 ... Signed to Houston practice squad on 8-29-24 ... Signed to Texans roster (Reserve/Future) on 1-21-25 ... Waived (injured) by Texans on 8-19-25 (cleared waivers and reverted to Reserve/Injured list on 8-20-25) ... Waived by Texans from Reserve/Injured with an injury settlement on 8-22-25 ... Signed to Cincinnati practice squad on 12-10-25 ... Signed to Bengals roster (Reserve/Future) on 1-5-26.
2024—Spent entire rookie season on Houston's practice squad.
2025—Spent final four games on Cincinnati's practice squad ... Was not with NFL team for first 14 weeks of regular season ... Was with Houston through offseason and training camp, before being waived by Texans on final cuts.
College: Spent six seasons (2018-23) at Ohio State, seeing action in 56 total games with four starts ... Caught 26 passes for 329 yards and two TDs, and added 44 rushing attempts for 358 yards and a TD ... Also returned 27 kickoffs for 582 yards ... Named a team captain in 2023 ... Had 37-yard TD catch in 2022 Peach Bowl/College Football Playoff semifinal against Georgia ... Earned Academic All-Big Ten honors in 2019.
High school/personal: Hometown is Cincinnati, Ohio ... Attended Summit Country Day School, where he played football, basketball, lacrosse and track ... As senior in 2017, caught 32 passes for 766 yards and eight TDs, and rushed for 623 yards and 10 TDs ... Had six special teams TDs in high school career ... Graduated from Ohio State with bachelor's degree in consumer and family financial services, and master's degree in translational data analytics.
NOTE ABOUT NFL EXPERIENCE: Johnson did not earn an accrued year of experience toward NFL free agency in 2024 or '25.
