Lonn Phillips Sullivan
Aug 9, 20214 min
by LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
@LonnPhillips
Newly named among the Sports Illustrated top 100 players in the country (about time) and ranked as the industry's #1 rated tight end, 2022 TE titan Jake Johnson hasn't been resting on his recent accolades.
With his strong NFL bloodlines, the LSU commit is putting in daily work and raising the bar ever higher this summer, starting with his exhibition at LSU's June camps:
Jake went off, putting on an all too familiar display of dominance (for anyone who's seen his performances for Oconee High), but this camp showcase was a more mature version of his abilities.
Riding the painful wave of a quad injury in spring, Jake went into LSU's skill position camp rusty and left with the football world's undivided attention. Without skipping a beat, Juker delivered an athletic sermon on his an unnatural ability to get open..... and even when he wasn't open...the ball was still his.
Now that he's spent time practicing alongside shoe-in NFL Hall of Fame TE Jason Witten, Jake has improved his game while also learning some secrets to the trade.
He detailed this valuable experience to LSU Odyssey, talking about how learning from Witten has helped his game:
JAKE: Got to work with Jason Witten today! He was awesome. My dad knew Jason from his Cowboy days. Jason has a place near us in Destin -we worked on blocking, route release and everything. Max was QB. It was a great day.
Jason is now coaching a high school team in Texas.
LONN: What was your biggest takeaways from your time with Witten?
JAKE: Being great at all the little things and not just coach talk but what really happens in games.
Meanwhile, Jake is in the midst of Oconee High's season preparations, aiming to clinch a third straight title game appearance, but this time, he is hungry to get over the finish line and cap off his incredible high school career.
Coming up short by a total of 9 combined points over the past two title games, these tough lessons have been ingrained within Jake, his brother Max and his father Brad, Oconee's QBs Coach.
For his part, Jake has been explosive over the past two years, catching 24 TDs (25 in his career), 10+ in each season with two different QBs, and he's risen to the top of the football food chain under the brightest lights, ripping down 11 TDs in 8 postseason appearances, including a score during both title games.
Catching an outrageous 60 passes throughout 2019 while his brother Max was QB, Johnson's profile exploded off the charts as many top schools came knocking. Despite the fact he caught 23 fewer passes during 2020, his yards per catch grew by 7 yards to 21.3 every reception; additionally, his total yards only lessened by 58 (845 to 787), proving his decisive big play ability within Oconee's offensive scheme.
Jake opened up to LSU Odyssey about his thoughts & expectations for his senior campaign at Oconee, although he also doubled down on his belief in his teammates and coaches:
JAKE: Looking forward to my last year as a senior and will contribute however the coaches ask me. We are a run oriented team and use some play action to mix it up. I hope to make the most of the opportunities I get.
I’m sure there will be an emphasis from other teams to double team me so we try to get as many people the ball to keep it balanced.
I will enroll at LSU in January.
I will play in the Adidas All-American game in San Antonio January 8th.
And then report to LSU.
We have a lot of our skill guys coming back this year. We have three new linemen that will be starting.
We have a solid fundamental kind of team that just works hard everyday.
We will have some young players that will have to step up on defense.
We have many players that will have to play both ways and hopefully build out depth as the year goes.
Also, our kicker is back.
We have been to the state finals the last two years in a row, but I go my best in close games both years.
We are 25 and 3 in the last two years.
Our goals are just to work hard in practice and be good at the fundamentals of blocking/tackling and assignment football. We are usually undersized to the teams we play, so we have to play mistake free football.
We take it one game at a time and don’t look past that.
PROJECTIONS: I understand the run-based philosophy behind Oconee's offense this season, but I still believe Juker is geauxing to get the ball, he's geauxing to make plays and he's geauxing to win games for his high school.
Regardless of philosophy or scheme, you have to get this young man the football.
With that in mind, I'm geauxing to project 842 receiving yards and 12 TDs for Jake this season as he takes Oconee to the title game for a third straight year.....and this time, they make no mistake, ending his high school career on the perfect note.
By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
@LonnPhillips
Copyright 2021 Uninterrupted Writings Inc
SHOUTOUTS: LET'S GEAUX JUKER