Juwan Johnson has generally been a reliable tight end for the New Orleans Saints.
You wouldn’t know it by his play on Sunday in Week 6 against the New York Giants, though.
Through three quarters of play, Johnson had been entirely shut out. That was despite the fact that the Saints led 27-10 after three quarters.
Is Juwan Johnson Playing Today?
Yes, the big TE Johnson is playing on Sunday against the Giants.
He’s active and healthy and on the field in his usual number 83.
He just wasn’t catching any passes.
Why Juwan Johnson Isn’t Catching Passes
The Saints simply were spreading the ball around, and not having a ton of aerial success anyway.
Through three quarters, Devaughn Vele led the offense with five cargets (and three catches for 42 yards).
Alvin Kamara, Chris Olave and Bryce Lance all had four targets. Kamara and Lance had each caught a touchdown.
Oscar Delp, Kendre Miller and Johnson all had two targets. The others had caught both of their targets, but Johnson hadn’t caught either of his.
Noah Fant and CJ Donaldson each had one target but no catches.
At that point, QB Tyler Shough was 14-for-25 for 121 yards.
The Saints’ offense was coming more on the ground with 27 carries for 150 yards through three quarters.
Saints TE Depth Chart
The Saints do have a bit of a crowded tight end depth chart.
Johnson is the TE1, but he’s rarely on the field by himself. The Saints run a lot of 2-TE sets.
Noah Fant is the TE2, and he’s had some big games this season, but he also had no catches through three quarters on Sunday.
The rookie Oscar Delp is the TE3, and he had two short catches through three quarters on Sunday.
There’s no reason to think that Johnson has been demoted, but there are a lot of bodies here, and the Saints don’t have a huge passing game anyway, so there will be weeks when these tight ends are a bit quiet.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
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