Johnson covets RB role

SEATTLE — Last season, Brandon Johnson showed flashes of what could be a bright future as a tailback at Washington.

This spring, he’s trying to prove that those flashes can translate to consistent production as Washington’s featured back.

Johnson, who rushed for 196 yards on 51 carries last season, comes into spring practice as the leading candidate to take over the starting tailback role vacated by Louis Rankin. His competition is likely to come from redshirt freshmen Willie Griffin and Brandon Yakaboski, as well as a foursome of freshmen that will arrive on campus this summer. Junior J.R. Hasty, who is currently being held out of spring practice for disciplinary reasons, could also factor into the tailback battle.

Husky fans got a glimpse of what Johnson can do when he rushed for 121 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries against California last season. Johnson thinks that, given the chance, he can produce similar numbers on a regular basis this season. He knows a good spring can go a long ways towards earning that chance next season.

“It’s a good chance for me to earn the spot and pretty much keep it solid,” said Johnson, who also returned 13 kickoffs for 226 yards as a freshman. “I’m trying to really just learn everything, the stuff I didn’t know last year, so that’s what I’m using this spring for, ironing up those little wrinkles from last year. Right now I feel way better. I know a lot more than I did last year, so that will help me be more productive. This spring is just going to help me get that much better.”

Johnson, who said he weighed 184 pounds last season, comes to spring practice about 20 pounds heavier. He says the added size won’t slow him down, but will make him stronger and help him improve as a blocker.

“I wanted to get bigger so my body will be able to take all the punishment,” he said. “You can’t be a college player at about 180 pounds. I feel the same, maybe even a little faster, and I know for sure I’m a lot stronger.”

Johnson ran with a straight-ahead, between-the-tackles style last year, but said he can be elusive in the open field as well if given the chance, even with some added bulk. Johnson said that in high school he was even known as an elusive running back.

“Last year I didn’t really get a chance to get in the open field and showcase what I can do,” he said. “That’s what I’m hoping for this year, to get bigger runs and showcase my talent.”

Healthy after day one: Tyrone Willingham reported that his team escaped the first day of practice without major injuries, though one player whose health he and his staff will be monitoring closely is Donald Butler.

Butler, a junior who made 52 tackles playing in eight games last year, had knee surgery prior to the 2007 season and was at times sidelined with knee problems on the surgically repaired knee last year. If healthy, Butler is likely to start at inside linebacker.

“I think there’s still going to be some effects of it, but he started camp in excellent shape,” Willingham said. “There were some things able to be remedied during this winter, and some things we were able to get done in his knee that didn’t require surgery that seem to have helped him tremendously, and if that goes forward, there’s a chance he may be injury-free with that knee.”

Hitting time: Today’s 11:30 a.m. practice will be the first of spring with players in full pads, though Willingham says the focus of practice won’t drastically change.

“The first day doesn’t change a lot for us in terms of what we do,” he said. “The things that we intend to work on, red-zone situations, open field situations, we will beginning to work on (Friday) and today. The pads don’t really change what we do in a sense.”

Contact Herald Writer John Boyle at jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more on University of Washington sports, check out the Huskies blog at heraldnet.com /huskiesblog

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