Darryl Johnson Jr. (born April 4, 1997) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

who is a free agent. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

North Carolina A&T North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (also known as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, N.C. A&T, or simply A&T) is a public, historically black land-grant research university in Greensboro, North Caro ...

Early years

Johnson grew up in

Kingsland, Georgia Kingsland is a city in Camden County, Georgia, United States. The population was 18,337 at the 2020 census. The Kingsland Commercial Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 17, 1994. It includes the area ...

. He committed to play

, which was the only school that gave him an offer following an injury during his high school senior year. In his final year with the Aggies, he racked up 55 total

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...

(19 for a loss) and 10.5 sacks, earning the

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern and the Mid-Atlantic United States. It participates in the National C ...

defensive player of the year award. Johnson declared for the

NFL draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

following his

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after ...

junior year.

Professional career

Buffalo Bills

Johnson was selected by the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

with the 225th overall pick in the seventh round of the

2019 NFL Draft The 2019 NFL Draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee. The first round was held on April 2 ...

Carolina Panthers

On August 30, 2021, the Bills traded Johnson to the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

for a 2022 sixth round pick. He was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

on October 30, 2021 with a hamstring injury. He was activated on December 7. On August 30, 2022, Johnson was waived by the Panthers.

Seattle Seahawks

On August 31, 2022, Johnson was claimed off waivers by the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

. He suffered a foot injury in Week 4 and placed on injured reserve on October 7.

San Francisco 49ers

On June 6, 2023, Johnson signed with the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

. He was placed on injured reserve on August 4, 2023. He was released on August 16.

References

External links

North Carolina A&T Aggies bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Darryl 1997 births Living people American football defensive ends Carolina Panthers players North Carolina A&T Aggies football players People from Kingsland, Georgia Players of American football from Camden County, Georgia San Francisco 49ers players Seattle Seahawks players Buffalo Bills players