Long before Paris Johnson Jr. was playing tackle, he was playing quarterback. And strong safety.
"Travis Hunter-esque, before that was popular," Johnson said. "Holding it down as a two-way player."
Sure, he might've only been 5 or 6 at the time, far from the 6-foot-6, 313-pound behemoth he has become. But he certainly wasn't an offensive lineman, not yet. He wasn't yet the Cardinals' answer at left tackle after nearly a decade of D.J. Humphries.
But it went well, according to his memory. "I ended up getting into the league," Johnson said with a grin.
There can be big money in offensive lining – Johnson will see the best left tackle in the league Sunday with the 49ers' Trent Williams – but that isn't the dream when you are a kid. The dream is to be a QB. Or a wide receiver.
Johnson did both. At one point he tried wideout briefly. The route running was there, he said. The hands, not so much. In the end, "I just wanted to touch grass," he said.
In high school, that chance came with playing on the offensive line.
Johnson was a defensive end and tight end as a freshman. It was a meeting in his coach's office alongside a coach from the University of Florida who was there recruiting that changed his path. Johnson's coach asked the recruiter where he'd want Johnson if he was going to recruit him. The answer was tackle – so Johnson's coach gave Johnson a choice: play defensive end on JV as a sophomore, or offensive tackle on varsity.
"I didn't know offensive line had technique," Johnson said. "I was down on defense working on rip moves, swim moves. The O-line was just punching sleds. What are they doing? It looked super unproductive."
He quickly learned otherwise. He learned enough to be Ohio State's main backup lineman as a true freshman, the starting right guard as a sophomore, and then left tackle as a junior.
His move to left tackle with the Cardinals, this year after playing right tackle last season, was inevitable.
"He's growing into his own, becoming a leader each and every day," quarterback Kyler Murray said. "He's very versatile in the sense that's he's able to be a very funny guy off the field but when we go to war it's time to go. He's locked-in. You almost can't talk to him, because he's so emotional."
The Cardinals signed veteran Jonah Williams to play right tackle this season so Johnson could make the move (ESPN reported on Wednesday that Williams, on IR with a knee injury suffered in Week 1, may not be able to return this season.)
Cardinals offensive line coach Klayton Adams said a team needs standout tackles on both sides these days, given how elite pass rushers can bounce back and forth, like the Lions' Aidan Hutchinson did against the Cardinals.
Johnson knows that while the conversation about the top tackles in the league includes Williams, it also includes the Eagles' Lane Johnson and the Lions' Penei Sewell, who both man the right.
Yet, "left tackle still holds prestige," Johnson said. "In my mind, left tackle is just a little bit different."
Rating offensive linemen can be complicated, but Pro Football Focus gives him an excellent 83.5 grade so far this season, with a low pressure allowed rate and calling him one of the most improved players in the NFL.
Johnson said he loves how the specific work he is installing into his game during practice is showing up on his game video.
"He's a very prideful guy," Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon said. "He wants to be one of the best out there."
That's the goal for Johnson. Always has been. And no, Johnson doesn't miss his quarterback days. Not at all.
"It's a great day to play offensive line," Johnson said.
KICKER ADDED TO PRACTICE SQUAD
The Cardinals, with a nod to the left knee injury to kicker Matt Prater, added veteran kicker Chad Ryland to the practice squad on Wednesday. Last season, Ryland made 16 of 25 field goals for the Patriots.
The Cardinals also released tackle Austen Pleasants from the practice squad and put defensive lineman Angelo Blackson on practice squad Injured Reserve.
