Have you ever heard of Barton College? And no, not Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ first-round pick Graham Barton’s college.
Buccaneers newly-solidified rookie - wide receiver Kameron Johnson - represents the unheard of football program nicely as their first player to make an NFL roster.
“Nobody knows about Barton. Nobody. But after I made a couple plays, they’ll be asking me, like- ‘where is Barton College at?’” the 22-year old standout said about his experience since leaving the school last season.
The Barton College Bulldogs are a freshly-founded, D-II college football team in Wilson, North Carolina, just outside of Raleigh. The Division II school saw their inaugural full football season in 2021, and with that, a star in Kameron “Jay” Johnson was born.
Posting 2,316 yards on 151 receptions and 19 touchdowns over three-full seasons, Johnson will forever be remembered for helping boost his local Division II football program up in its beginning stages.
“I see the vision, I see what’s coming here, like what they’re bringing to the area. Plus it’s just so close to home. There’s no better fit than Barton College”, he told Barton VP Ken Tyler about his recruitment process in 2020, a season before the team’s inaugural season in 2021.
“My recruitment process, it wasn’t the best”, Johnson admitted. “A lot of my teammates were getting offers from other places, other institutions, where my offers were kind of D-III, NIA, stuff like that. But then I met with Tristan Burnett, the DB coach.” His face lit up.
“I was originally supposed to come here as a defensive back”, Johnson continued on. It was then that Barton coach Chip Hester approached Kameron to see what he could do on the offensive side of the ball. That ended up working out quite well for both Barton and the young prospect. As he got to put on film some amazing highlights that ended up getting him noticed by plenty of NFL scouts.
Johnson’s high school alma-mater, Northern Nash High School, is only a 30-minute drive to Barton College campus. “I was kick returner, punt returner, the starting quarterback and running back. I played everything but receiver,” he spoke about his high school career.
Seems safe to say Kameron Johnson’s explosiveness on the football field is what propelled his name above those of NFL veterans, such as Sterling Shepard and Cody Thompson, two players the Buccaneers left off the final 53-man roster in the likes of Johnson.
One look over his highlights at Barton College will only confirm why there were 16 NFL-teams hoping to sign the undrafted free-agent in the days following the draft. His film depicts not only his ability to take advantage of his down-field opportunities, but what jumps out is his natural knack to speed by and avoid defenders when the ball is in his hands.
Johnson credits his six months spent in Charlotte, NC after the 2023 college football season as to why he came into training camp in such great shape. “And then we just began NFL combine training- how that process was just so fast, it was such a grind, like- going to the field, in the gym every single day. For sixth months straight, then the opportunity came, I was blessed to have my pro day at NC State and put on a show in front of the scouts, stuff like that. That really what I was doing after the season, just straight football- just focusing on that.”
Entering this year’s training camp with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, even your most hardcore fans hadn’t heard the name Kameron Johnson before the team signed him to a rookie-contract. But he flashed early, as he usually does, in front of coaches and fans at training camp.
Although it didn’t translate into the preseason games, he showed just enough to the decision-makers that he can contribute and play the role needed for this team. We know Johnson will play a heavy-role on special teams this year, using that explosiveness seen at Barton to set-up the Buccaneer offense on kick and punt returns.
Plus, with there only being five receivers total on this 53-man roster, the rookie will be expected to step-in and understand his role on the offensive side of the ball as well, may any injuries to the starting core occur.
Kameron Johnson’s number is still undecided, as he was sharing the #9 with Joe Tryon-Shoyinka throughout training camp and the preseason. He tells Bucs fans to “stay tuned” as far as which number he will represent his rookie year, probably to be announced sometime early next week.
Who’s to say what may come out of the undrafted-free agent this season? To make the final roster at a position like wide receiver in the NFL is no easy task, especially when you’re such an unknown going into the entire process. But Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ General Manager Jason Licht and his team have a fantastic scouting process and it seems as if yet again, they’ve acquired another undrafted player who will play an important role on this roster.
Have you ever heard of Barton College? And no, not Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ first-round pick Graham Barton’s college.
Buccaneers newly-solidified rookie - wide receiver Kameron Johnson - represents the unheard of football program nicely as their first player to make an NFL roster.
“Nobody knows about Barton. Nobody. But after I made a couple plays, they’ll be asking me, like- ‘where is Barton College at?’” the 22-year old standout said about his experience since leaving the school last season.
The Barton College Bulldogs are a freshly-founded, D-II college football team in Wilson, North Carolina, just outside of Raleigh. The Division II school saw their inaugural full football season in 2021, and with that, a star in Kameron “Jay” Johnson was born.
Posting 2,316 yards on 151 receptions and 19 touchdowns over three-full seasons, Johnson will forever be remembered for helping boost his local Division II football program up in its beginning stages.
“I see the vision, I see what’s coming here, like what they’re bringing to the area. Plus it’s just so close to home. There’s no better fit than Barton College”, he told Barton VP Ken Tyler about his recruitment process in 2020, a season before the team’s inaugural season in 2021.
“My recruitment process, it wasn’t the best”, Johnson admitted. “A lot of my teammates were getting offers from other places, other institutions, where my offers were kind of D-III, NIA, stuff like that. But then I met with Tristan Burnett, the DB coach.” His face lit up.
“I was originally supposed to come here as a defensive back”, Johnson continued on. It was then that Barton coach Chip Hester approached Kameron to see what he could do on the offensive side of the ball. That ended up working out quite well for both Barton and the young prospect. As he got to put on film some amazing highlights that ended up getting him noticed by plenty of NFL scouts.
Johnson’s high school alma-mater, Northern Nash High School, is only a 30-minute drive to Barton College campus. “I was kick returner, punt returner, the starting quarterback and running back. I played everything but receiver,” he spoke about his high school career.
Seems safe to say Kameron Johnson’s explosiveness on the football field is what propelled his name above those of NFL veterans, such as Sterling Shepard and Cody Thompson, two players the Buccaneers left off the final 53-man roster in the likes of Johnson.
One look over his highlights at Barton College will only confirm why there were 16 NFL-teams hoping to sign the undrafted free-agent in the days following the draft. His film depicts not only his ability to take advantage of his down-field opportunities, but what jumps out is his natural knack to speed by and avoid defenders when the ball is in his hands.
Johnson credits his six months spent in Charlotte, NC after the 2023 college football season as to why he came into training camp in such great shape. “And then we just began NFL combine training- how that process was just so fast, it was such a grind, like- going to the field, in the gym every single day. For sixth months straight, then the opportunity came, I was blessed to have my pro day at NC State and put on a show in front of the scouts, stuff like that. That really what I was doing after the season, just straight football- just focusing on that.”
Entering this year’s training camp with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, even your most hardcore fans hadn’t heard the name Kameron Johnson before the team signed him to a rookie-contract. But he flashed early, as he usually does, in front of coaches and fans at training camp.
Although it didn’t translate into the preseason games, he showed just enough to the decision-makers that he can contribute and play the role needed for this team. We know Johnson will play a heavy-role on special teams this year, using that explosiveness seen at Barton to set-up the Buccaneer offense on kick and punt returns.
Plus, with there only being five receivers total on this 53-man roster, the rookie will be expected to step-in and understand his role on the offensive side of the ball as well, may any injuries to the starting core occur.
Kameron Johnson’s number is still undecided, as he was sharing the #9 with Joe Tryon-Shoyinka throughout training camp and the preseason. He tells Bucs fans to “stay tuned” as far as which number he will represent his rookie year, probably to be announced sometime early next week.
Who’s to say what may come out of the undrafted-free agent this season? To make the final roster at a position like wide receiver in the NFL is no easy task, especially when you’re such an unknown going into the entire process. But Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ General Manager Jason Licht and his team have a fantastic scouting process and it seems as if yet again, they’ve acquired another undrafted player who will play an important role on this roster.
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