UT’s Austin Johnson carries in the game against MTSU.KNOXVILLE — Austin Johnson might have thought he was simply stepping on the indoor football field at the Neyland-Thompson Sports Complex on Friday afternoon.
Really, though, the former Tennessee linebacker was stepping into a time machine.
It took him back one year, when another former Volunteers linebacker was trying to impress NFL scouts as a fullback. Unlike Nick Reveiz, however, Johnson relived his days at the position he played as a freshman and sophomore at UT when he took handoffs and caught passes out of the backfield during the Vols’ pro day.
“I feel like a lot of the fullback stuff comes naturally to me, running routes and those kind of drills,” Johnson said. “I definitely will do some more offensive stuff, catching more balls if I have to. My main focus is linebacker unless a team says they want me [at fullback]. Wherever I end up going, I’ll adjust accordingly.”
Friday was Johnson’s biggest chance to improve his NFL stock since playing in the Casino Del Sol College All-Star Game in January. The 6-foot-2, 240-pound North Carolina native joined the rest of his UT senior class for Friday’s combine events and individual position drills in front of NFL scouts and a handful of other former Vols, including Kansas City Chiefs safety Eric Berry. Most of the current Vols were on had to watch as well after running the steps of Neyland Stadium in the early-morning hours to close out the offseason workout program.