Why the 49ers Signed Kerryon Johnson to their Practice Squad

Johnson was the Detroit Lions' second-round draft pick in 2018, and he's only 24.

Grant Cohn | Sep 14, 2021

Here's what to know about the newest member of the 49ers practice squad: running back Kerryon Johnson.

Johnson was the Detroit Lions' second-round draft pick in 2018, and he's only 24. In his final season at Auburn, he rushed for 1391 yards and 18 touchdowns in just 12 games. And during his rookie season with the Lions, he averaged a whopping 5.4 yards per carry. He looked like their best running back since Barry Sanders.

But his second season, he averaged a measly 3.6 yards per carry, then missed eight games with a torn meniscus, and he never has been the same since then. In 2020, he appeared in all 16 games for the Lions, but rushed only 52 times and averaged just 3.5 yards per carry. So the Lions waived him.

And the Eagles claimed him off waivers. That's right, the team the 49ers will play this Sunday. They brought Johnson into training camp and gave him two carries during the preseason -- he gained 12 yards. And then they cut him, too. Which means Johnson's career is on life support.

That's because Johnson still hasn't recovered from his knee injury, and maybe never will. He plays with a big, bulky knee brace, which could signify his injury is a mental hurdle he hasn't gotten over.

And that's probably why the 49ers signed him. The 49ers love adding players who have a history of knee injuries, because the 49ers believe they can rehabilitate them. That's why they signed Jason Verrett and drafted Javon Kinlaw. So Johnson will fit right into the 49ers' locker room.

An ideal world, the 49ers won't have to play Johnson this season. But given their awful luck with injuries, they probably will need him soon rather than later.

Published Sep 14, 2021

GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.