Virginia receiver Keeon Johnson learned the lesson the hard way. One year after he burst on the scene as a true freshman, his playing time dropped early last fall and it took him half the season to carve out any sort of role for the Hoos.

This offseason, he wasn’t going to make the same mistake. Johnson entered 2015 training camp in great shape and he’s been making plays with the unit through the first four days of practice. While training camp “really doesn’t start until you get a two-a-day” according to receivers coach Marques Hagans, he notices a difference thus far in the junior receiver.

“I think he might be a little bit hungrier,” Hagans said. “The season didn’t go as well as he planned last year and I think this offseason really drove him to be a better and more complete football player. I think he’s gotten in the best shape of his life, he’s gotten the weight down where he wants to be, he’s running really well, and he’s making plays. We’ll have to wait to see if that carries out for the duration of camp and into the season.”

On Monday, Johnson was the offensive star of the day. He ran some reps with the first team and some with the second team, but he made plays regardless. In one 7 on 7 segment, he beat safety Kelvin Rainey on a route to the back right corner of the end zone for a touchdown. Later during the same red zone portion, Johnson beat Rainey again out of a bunch set. This time he popped out of the trio of receivers to the outside and Rainey got stuck in the traffic.

...