In his final season of college football, Cephus Johnson III completed 119-of-184 passes for 1,354 yards with 10 touchdowns and five interceptions and ran 89 times for 488 yards and five touchdowns for Southeastern Louisiana in 2022. He did not catch a pass.

But the former Davidson High School standout spent his first season in the NFL as a wide receiver. And in his second, Johnson aims to show the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that he’s made the transition to the position.

Johnson spent Saturday morning at Highpoint Park in Prichard working with the youngsters attending the Palmer Williams Group’s 11th annual Athletic Youth Camp. The typical Gulf Coast summer day, with a sky full of heavy clouds that somehow never passed in front of the sun, helped Johnson prepare for the start of Tampa Bay’s training camp on July 23 even without a workout.

“Just getting used to the heat is always good,” Johnson said. “Just staying ready.”

Johnson is eager for his second training camp with the Buccaneers.

“Just going out there having fun, making plays and just showing them my jump from Year 1 to Year 2,” Johnson said. “Really just showing them that I belong, so that’s just my main focus.”

Johnson passed for 1,849 yards with 22 touchdowns and three interceptions for Davidson in 2016, when the Warriors’ only regular-season loss was a 39-36 triple-overtime setback against McGill-Toolen.

At South Alabama, Johnson became the Jaguars’ starting quarterback in 2019. He had thrown for 900 yards and five touchdowns and ran for 173 yards and four touchdowns in eight games when USA decided to turn the offense over to QB Desmond Trotter.

After transferring to Southeastern Louisiana, Johnson showed his dual-threat ability at quarterback by completing 124-of-195 passes for 2,349 yards with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions and running for 797 yards and eight touchdowns on 138 carries for the Lions. But he also caught six passes for 81 yards and two touchdowns, which gave NFL teams an inkling of his versatility.

Signed as an undrafted rookie by the Minnesota Vikings last year, Johnson was released during training camp. Signed by the Bucs on Aug. 13, Johnson didn’t have a reception in two preseason games with Tampa Bay. But after being cut in the roster reduction to reach the regular-season limit, Johnson signed with the Buccaneers for their practice squad and spent the 2023 season there.

Tampa Bay liked what it saw from the 6-foot-5 athlete and re-signed him in January for the 2024 season. He said he’s ready to show the Bucs what he learned.

“Last year was my first year playing receiver, so just my technique, my overall receiver skills where I’ve gotten better catching, route running and everything like that,” Johnson said. “That’s where I really want to make that jump. Obviously, it’s a new offense, so just making sure I get a good grasp of that as well.”

Although Johnson didn’t follow a traditional route to the NFL, he’s “not surprised” he reached it.

“It was a lot of different adversity and things like that I had to overcome,” Johnson said. “But with God, prayer, my support group, my family, close friends, to us, we’re really not surprised that I made it. The main thing is to keep going and keep pushing. …

“Growing up, from a kid I always knew that football was something that I loved to do. But it was also hard, and I was just always willing to practice hard, work hard, do whatever it was just so I could perform to my highest level.”

Landing a spot on the Davidson varsity as a freshman in 2013 helped open Johnson’s eyes to the necessity of doing that.

“Going into high school, coach (Fred) Riley and how he ran that whole program,” Johnson said, “it was just like a real wakeup call, and I just really realized what it took to play at that level.”

On April 27, Johnson’s brother followed him into the NFL when the Cincinnati Bengals used a sixth-round selection on Ole Miss pass-rusher Cedric Johnson.

“That’s a cool feeling,” Cephus Johnson said. “I’m proud of my brother. I’m so happy for him. I’m excited to see what he’s going to do. I know he’s going to do great things, but it’s just a really good feeling to see him doing his thing out there at the next level. …

“His path was a little bit different from mine, but I tried to tell him what I could. But, obviously, he had his own turns that he had to maneuver through that were different from mine.”

Cedric Johnson’s first opportunity to play as a pro will come against his brother. In Week 1 of the NFL preseason, the Buccaneers visit Cincinnati on Aug. 10.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.