The Facts: After evaluating the game and practice film, OC Norv Turner acknowledged Wednesday, via ESPN Cleveland's Tony Grossi, that Johnson is "far and away our best receiver."
Diehards Line:
Plucked from the Browns' practice squad in late September, Johnson led the Vikings with 47 targets, 25 receptions and 415 receiving yards once he started playing regular snaps from Week 11 through the end of the season. Buoyed by Johnson's unexpected emergence as the Vikings' most productive receiver, Teddy Bridgewater finished as Pro Football Focus' top-rated quarterback for the final five weeks of the 2014 season. Now that Turner is recognizing Johnson as Bridgewater's top target, NFL.com's Chris Wesseling believes that should put Greg Jennings on the chopping block with an $8.9 million salary that is scheduled to count $11 million against the 2015 salary cap. Wesseling went on to suggest that Turner's comments should be taken as a wake-up call for 2013 first-round pick Cordarrelle Patterson, whose route running was still so unreliable that he couldn't get off the bench in the second half of the season. We'll see about that.