Player
Juwan Johnson
TE · Saints
For a TE who started his pro career as a small-school WR-to-TE conversion project, the catch-volume jump from 50 (2024) to 77 (2025) is the moment the call finally cleared. Most position-conversion players plateau and wash out; Johnson is one of the rare cases where year 6 is the breakout, and the Saints — who have absorbed the entire cost of his development — are the team that gets the upside.
A converted college WR — and 2025 is the first year he's broken 77 catches.
TrendJohnson regular-season production by year
| Year | G | Tgts | Rec | Yds | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 39 | 0 |
| 2021 | 13 | 22 | 13 | 159 | 4 |
| 2022 | 16 | 65 | 42 | 508 | 7 |
| 2023 | 13 | 59 | 37 | 368 | 4 |
| 2024 | 15 | 66 | 50 | 548 | 3 |
| 2025 | 17 | 102 | 77 | 889 | 3 |
Receptions per season
| Season | Receptions |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 4 |
| 2021 | 13 |
| 2022 | 42 |
| 2023 | 37 |
| 2024 | 50 |
| 2025 | 77 |
He went undrafted out of Oregon as a wide receiver, signed with New Orleans in 2020, and was converted to TE during his rookie season. Five years later he's at 77/889/3 — the season the conversion finally fully came through.
The ramp is unusual: he plateaued at 37-50 catches for three years (2022-24) before the 2025 jump. Most converted-position players either click in years 2-3 or never. He took the long road.
Why it matters. For a TE who started his pro career as a small-school WR-to-TE conversion project, the catch-volume jump from 50 (2024) to 77 (2025) is the moment the call finally cleared. Most position-conversion players plateau and wash out; Johnson is one of the rare cases where year 6 is the breakout, and the Saints — who have absorbed the entire cost of his development — are the team that gets the upside.
His TD rate has fallen every year — from 31% per catch in 2021 to 3.9% in 2025.
AnomalyJohnson TD rate by year
| Year | Rec | TDs | TD/Rec |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 13 | 4 | 30.8% |
| 2022 | 42 | 7 | 16.7% |
| 2023 | 37 | 4 | 10.8% |
| 2024 | 50 | 3 | 6.0% |
| 2025 | 77 | 3 | 3.9% |
TD per reception by season
| Season | TD per Reception (%) |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 30.8 |
| 2022 | 16.7 |
| 2023 | 10.8 |
| 2024 | 6.0 |
| 2025 | 3.9 |
In 2021 he caught 13 balls and scored 4 — a 31% TD rate that almost no one sustains. As his role expanded the rate had to come down, but the slope is steep: down to 3.9% in 2025.
It's a clean 'role widening' story. 2021 Juwan was a goal-line specialist (4 RZ TDs on 7 RZ targets). 2025 Juwan is a possession TE running the full route tree — and the per-catch TD math reflects that, even as his absolute catch volume hit a career high.
Why it matters. TD-per-catch is the single noisiest stat in fantasy and contract conversations, and Johnson's curve is the textbook 'goal-line specialist → full-route TE' transition. The 3.9% rate in 2025 is not a red flag — it's the mechanical consequence of trading 7 red-zone targets (2021) for 102 total targets (2025). Buy the volume, expect the TDs to mean-revert.
Saints have used him in the red zone every year — but the conversion has stayed flat at 45-65%.
SplitJohnson red-zone targets by season
| Year | RZ Tgts | Catches | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2021 | 7 | 5 | 4 |
| 2022 | 11 | 7 | 5 |
| 2023 | 8 | 7 | 3 |
| 2024 | 8 | 5 | 3 |
| 2025 | 8 | 5 | 2 |
His red-zone target volume hasn't grown with his overall usage — 8 RZ targets in 2025 is the same as 2023 and 2024, even though his total targets jumped from 66 to 102.
New Orleans is using the new volume on the field, not in the end zone. The quiet number: 17 career RZ TDs on 43 career RZ targets (39.5%) — and the per-year RZ TD count has trended down every season since 2022 (5 → 3 → 3 → 2).
Why it matters. For a converted-WR TE in a Saints offense that has cycled QBs, red-zone usage is the test of whether the team trusts him as a primary endzone target or just a chain-mover. Johnson's RZ targets staying flat at 8 even as overall targets jumped 55% says New Orleans likes him as a possession option — not the matchup they call when they need 7 points. That gap is the difference between a TE2 fantasy line and a TE1.
Three career 90-yard games — all in 2025, none with a TD.
MilestoneJohnson top single-game receiving performances
| Date | Opp | Tgts | Rec | Yds | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 W17 | vs TEN | 4 | 4 | 95 | 0 |
| 2025 W10 | vs CAR | 4 | 4 | 92 | 1 |
| 2023 W17 | vs TB | 12 | 8 | 90 | 1 |
| 2025 W16 | vs NYJ | 9 | 8 | 89 | 0 |
| 2024 W18 | vs TB | 7 | 6 | 80 | 0 |
Two of his top games came on 4 targets, 4 catches — efficiency-driven. The TEN game (95 yards on 4 catches, 23.8 Y/Rec) is more deep-WR than TE.
The 2023 vs Tampa Bay (12 targets, 8 catches, 90 yards) is the volume-driven version of the same upside. The 2025 spike isn't a fluke — he's been threatening this kind of game for years; New Orleans just started feeding him.
Why it matters. Career-game ceilings tell you whether a player has true 'spike' upside or is a target-volume floor play. Johnson's top three games all came in 2025 and none had a TD — meaning the yardage is real, not TD-inflated. For a TE who started life as a WR, the 23.8 Y/Rec line vs Tennessee on 4-of-4 catching is a tell that he can still be deployed as a vertical seam threat, not just a checkdown.
4th-most receiving yards by any TE in 2025 — and a top-3 catch rate among 80+ target TEs.
Comparison2025 TEs with 80+ targets — by receiving yards
| Player | Tgts | Rec | Yds | Catch % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trey McBride | 169 | 126 | 1239 | 74.6% |
| Kyle Pitts | 118 | 88 | 928 | 74.6% |
| Colston Loveland | 107 | 70 | 906 | 65.4% |
| Juwan Johnson | 102 | 77 | 889 | 75.5% |
| Hunter Henry | 102 | 69 | 880 | 67.6% |
| Travis Kelce | 108 | 76 | 851 | 70.4% |
| Dalton Schultz | 112 | 87 | 836 | 77.7% |
| Jake Ferguson | 102 | 82 | 600 | 80.4% |
Johnson is 4th in TE receiving yards (889) in 2025, behind only McBride, Pitts, and Loveland — all top-of-draft prospects or established TE1s. His 75.5% catch rate is 3rd among the 14 TEs with 80+ targets, trailing only Ferguson (80.4%) and Schultz (77.7%).
For a 6-foot-4 TE who started his pro career as a small-school WR conversion project, that's a six-year graduation arc. The 2026 version with this same role projects as a 1,000-yard, 50+ catch underneath option.
Why it matters. Where Johnson lands in the TE pecking order matters because the Saints' offense has been below league average — meaning he's producing top-5 TE volume on a non-elite offensive ecosystem. That's harder to do than McBride's line in Arizona or Pitts' in Atlanta. For 2026 fantasy and contract conversations, the relevant peer set is 'top-5 TE yards on a bottom-half offense' — a short list.
FanIQ answers any NFL stats question with receipts, on your phone.
Get FanIQ freeGet it on Google Play