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Kaleb Johnson thinks returning to same position will help him improve, be more ready for NFL

Left guard Kaleb Johnson waited until the day before the deadline for underclassmen to enroll in the NFL Draft before committing to returning to Rutgers, but he says he never really wanted to go. (Tanya Breen/MyCentralJersey.com)

PISCATAWAY – He submitted game tape to the NFL Draft Advisory Board, he weighed the pros and cons of returning to the Rutgers football team, and he talked with his mother and high school coaches about his future, but Kaleb Johnson says his big offseason decision wasn’t much of a decision at all.

“I knew it was the best decision,” Johnson said of foregoing early entry into the NFL Draft. “To be honest, I wasn’t really thinking about coming out. That’s just something I let you guys (think).”

Johnson enters his senior season with a streak of 37 consecutive starts dating back to the third game of 2011, when he earned Freshman All-American honors without first redshirting. As a result, Johnson is the most experienced among the experienced as Rutgers its retuning all five offensive line starters under new coach Mitch Browning, who built a reputation for playing a physical style at Minnesota last decade.

“To come back and have all five of us together there is nothing better than that,” Johnson said. “And then having a coach come in like Coach Browning, the experience that he has can help me get better.”

One factor that suggests Johnson could be in line for big improvements is that for the first time in his career he is slotted to play the same position two years in a row. He moved from right tackle to left tackle between his freshman and sophomore seasons and to left guard during last spring camp.

“Even since high school I haven’t played the same position twice – I went from tackle to right guard to left guard,” Johnson said. “I’ve been moving around … (so I am) learning the plays all over again. The fundamentals are really the same. Being able to play faster is what’s going to be able to help me this ye

In the short-term, a better Johnson should be a big lift to a Rutgers’ rushing offense that ranked No. 100 out of 123 teams in the nation – ahead of just two teams in the Big Ten – with 129.5 yards per game.

“One of the things that runs a team is the offensive line and going into the new conference that’s one of the (spots) we know we’re going to have an advantage because of having all these guys together,” Johnson said. “Having guys like Paul James and Justin Goodwin back in the backfield is just going to be another advantage. Helping this team get to the next level is something I want to be a part of.”

Getting to the next level in the Big Ten won’t be easy but Johnson wasn’t scared of competing against better defenses and under more intense scrutiny.

“Nothing about football scares me,” he said. “To be the best, you’ve got to beat the best. My personal opinion is they should be scared of us because they’ve got to play us. Our offensive line, we ain’t scared of nothing. We’re going to do what we’ve got to do.”
In the long-term, a better Johnson should mean a higher draft position. He said the Draft Advisory Board, which is made up of former NFL general managers and personnel directors, returned a projected draft grade of fourth-to-seventh round, which wasn’t enough to convince him to take a quick payday.

“I feel like that’s temporary money,” said Johnson, who is on track to graduate in May 2015. “As life goes, I’m trying to get something bigger than that.”

Even Dorian Miller, a Metuchen native who might have been in line for a starting job if Johnson went to the NFL, was rooting for the return of his mentor.

“From day one he’s really been there to help me,” Miller said. “The fact that he came back, I was like, ‘Alright, the offensive line is going to be great.’ He’s taken a big leadership role. Whatever he is doing, I’m going to follow his example.”

Open Practice

Rutgers reached the maximum capacity of 450 fans it pre-determined it would allow inside the Bubble for Saturday’s practice, which also represented the first this spring in more equipment than just helmets.

“Great energy today – always great energy when you put the pads on for the first time,” coach Kyle Flood said. “It was great to have so many fans come out to watch practice. I think it created an even better atmosphere for the players out here, and we certainly had some recruits on campus that enjoyed practice as well.”

About Ryan Dunleavy

Ryan Dunleavy has covered Rutgers athletics for more than a decade, dating back to his days as a student at his alma mater. He became New Jersey Press Media’s Rutgers women’s basketball beat writer in 2009 and Rutgers football beat writer in 2013. Since joining the staff in 2004, the Morris County native also has covered the NFL, MLB, NBA, the Somerset Patriots and high school sports.

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