INDIANAPOLIS – Colorado State receiver Bisi Johnson fell one bench-press lift short of his goal Friday, raising the 225-pound bar 14 times at the NFL Scouting Combine.
“I was trying to get to 15, but lost a little concentration,” Johnson said. “I was very happy with it.”
Johnson, a Lakewood native who attended Bear Creek High School, will run the 40-yard dash on Saturday.
“I’m trying to run a low 4.4 (seconds),” he said. “I expect myself to do that.”
Johnson trained for the Combine with speed coach Morgan Wells at Michael Johnson Performance in McKinney, Texas. He hopes a good 40 time combined with his Rams game tape will impress NFL teams. As of Friday, he had no formal interviews scheduled, but did meet with the Broncos informally.
“I did grow up at Broncos fan,” said Johnson, 21. “I was also a Colts fan because of (quarterback Peyton) Manning. Thatap who my dad liked and as a kid, I looked up to what he thought. When Manning came to the Broncos, that was cool to see.”
Johnson, 6-foot, 204 pounds, played 49 games for Colorado State, finishing with 125 catches for 2,019 yards and 11 touchdowns. He had only 29 catches in his first 25 games, but broke through with a seven-catch, 265-yard, two-touchdown game in the Rams’ Potato Bowl against Idaho to close the 2016 season. It was a single-game CSU record.
“That was a crazy game for me,” Johnson said. “The field was icy. It was freezing cold. I had a breakout game and I was running from there. My expectations were very high already but they went up even more after that.”
Johnson closed his CSU career with seasons of 41 and 54 catches. As a senior, he had three 100-yard games and eight games with at least five catches.
“I definitely pride myself in my consistency and durability,” Johnson said. “I’m going to catch anything that comes my way as long as itap in my frame.”
During his Combine workout, Johnson hopes to show he has improved his vertical route-running speed to combine with what he feels is solid work on the rest of the route tree.
“My intermediate routes, in and out of my breaks, curls, double moves, corner posts — those should look good,” Johnson said. “This is huge. I’m grateful for the opportunity and I’m going to go out and do the best I can.”
