 Johnson in 2023 | |||||||||
| Houston Texans | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Fullback | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | (1994-12-15)15 December 1994 (age 30) Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 255 lb (116 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Jean Ribault(Jacksonville, Florida) | ||||||||
| College: | Tennessee (2014–2017) | ||||||||
| Undrafted: | 2018 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
As a player: | |||||||||
As a staff member / executive: | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||
| Career NFL statistics as of 2023 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Jakob Elijah Johnson (German pronunciation:[ˈjaːkɔp]YAH-kop;née Weinmann; born 15 December 1994) is a German-American professionalfootballfullback of theHouston Texans of theNational Football League (NFL). He playedcollege football atTennessee and signed with theNew England Patriots in 2019 through the NFL'sInternational Player Pathway Program. After three seasons in New England, Johnson played two seasons with theLas Vegas Raiders.
Johnson was born inStuttgart, Germany, on 15 December 1994 as Jakob Weinmann to an African-American father and German mother. He later took on his father's name Johnson.[1] He played for theStuttgart Scorpions on the U19 team before moving toJacksonville, Florida in his senior year of high school. He was a four-star recruit in high school and joined theTennessee Volunteers as alinebacker.[2] At theUniversity of Tennessee, he became a member of theSoutheastern Conference Academic Honor Roll for three consecutive seasons and graduated with a degree inkinesiology. He is a member of theOmega Psi Phi fraternity[3]
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft2+7⁄8 in (1.90 m) | 253 lb (115 kg) | 31+7⁄8 in (0.81 m) | 9+1⁄4 in (0.23 m) | 5.15 s | 1.79 s | 2.96 s | 4.51 s | 7.49 s | ||||
| All values fromPro Day[4] | ||||||||||||
Following his graduation fromTennessee in 2018, Johnson returned to theStuttgart Scorpions of theGerman Football League where he would play for a year. Johnson had 43receptions for 474 yards and fourtouchdowns and rushed 10 times for 46 yards in 12 games played. The Scorpions finished with a 4–12 record on the season.[5]
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Jakob entered the NFL via theInternational Player Pathway Program and was signed byNew England Patriots as anundrafted free agent on 8 April 2019.[6] He was released during final roster cuts on 31 August 2019.[7] After remaining unclaimed in waivers, he was automatically assigned to the Patriots'practice squad for the 2019 season.[8] As the Patriots chose not to register him as an international player, Jakob counted against the 10-man practice squad limit, and was therefore eligible to be signed to the active roster during the 2019 season.[9] He was promoted from the practice squad on 21 September 2019 following an injury toJames Develin and became the first International Pathway player to be activated[10] and play in anNFL game.[11] He was placed on season-endinginjured reserve on 14 October 2019 with a shoulder injury. In the 2019 season, he recorded one reception for five yards, and took 94 total snaps — 71 on offense and 23 on special teams — in 4 games played.[12]
To start the2020 NFL season, his second, Johnson made the Patriots 53-man roster out of camp, becoming the second International Pathway player to do so afterEfe Obada.[13] In Week 2 of the 2020 season against theSeattle Seahawks onSunday Night Football, Johnson scored his first NFL touchdown on a one-yard touchdown reception fromCam Newton,[14] becoming the first player from theInternational Player Pathway to score a touchdown.[15] He also became the first offensive player from Germany and second overall German player to score a touchdown.[16] He appeared in all 16 games and started 11 in the 2020 season.[17]
On 25 March 2021, the Patriots re-signed Johnson to a one-year contract.[18] He appeared in all 17 regular season games (started six) and the Patriots' playoff game against Buffalo.[19]
Johnson signed with theLas Vegas Raiders on 17 March 2022.[20] In the 2022 season, he appeared in all 17 games and started nine for the Raiders. He contributed on offense and special teams.[21]
Johnson signed a one-year contract extension on 15 March 2023.[22] Johnson was released by the Raiders on 17 November 2023 and re-signed to the practice squad four days later.[23][24] He was signed to the active roster on 29 December.[25] In the 2023 season, he appeared in 13 games and started five. He split time on offense and special teams.[26]
On August 16, 2024, Johnson signed with theNew York Giants.[27] He was released on August 27, and re-signed to the practice squad.[28][29] He was released on September 6, but re-signed to the active roster a few days later.[30][31] Joshson was released again on September 24 and re-signed back to the practice squad.[32] He was released again from the practice squad on November 19.[33]
On March 18, 2025, Johnson signed with theHouston Texans.[34]
| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | Fumbles | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Y/R | Lng | TD | Fum | Lost | ||
| 2019 | NE | 4 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | NE | 16 | 11 | 8 | 35 | 4.4 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2021 | NE | 17 | 6 | 4 | 43 | 10.8 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | LV | 17 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 2.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | LV | 13 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 12.0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | NYG | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 70 | 35 | 19 | 105 | 5.5 | 29 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
In February 2022, Johnson publicly announced his investment in the American football clubStuttgart Surge and he is now a co-owner.[35]
