Senior Receiver Travis Johnson Weighs WVU Against Other Offers - WVU Football, WVU Basketball, News - Mountaineer Sports

Travis Johnson has quite a task ahead of him as he begins the process of narrowing down a massive list of college offers to the schools that he is truly interested in.

"It's starting to heat up again with all the attention, so I'm trying to balance all that with these last couple weeks of school," says Johnson.

Then, the 6-foot-3, 230-pound wide receiver will use the summer before his senior season to sift through over 30 reported offers in an attempt to somehow find the five that will ultimately stand out enough to warrant official campus visits.

The eliminations have already begun.

"I have a top 15," Johnson says, before correcting that number. "Well, it's more of a top 16 now that West Virginia has offered. They're definitely up there with my top schools. I'm looking to narrow that down to 10 over the summer and then have five by the end of summer."

WVU defensive line coach Erik Slaughter recently extended an offer to both Johnson and his Jesuit High School (Tampa, Fla.) teammate, sophomore defender Vincent Jackson. 

Johnson believes that many people who take a look at his highlight tape are struck first by his size, but soon take notice of his speed as well. Clocked at 4.56 in the 40-yard dash, Johnson warns anyone who make call him a one-dimensional player to think twice.

"I'm a bigger guy, but I can get out there and run with the little skinny guys," says Johnson. "People think when they see a stat sheet that I'm a bigger guy, so I can't do this or that, but if you get out and watch me play on the field, you'll see that I can get out there and move and make plays."

A strong work ethic is the first asset Johnson cites when explaining his best attributes that have led to so many college coaches showing interest. Others point to his hands as the reason why his offer list approaches 40.

Johnson says his junior statistics include 48 receptions for 656 yards and seven touchdowns.

Regardless of the explanation, teams want him to join their ranks. The question now is what he is looking for from them in order to make his decision.

"West Virginia has a shot because for one, they know how to throw the football and put points up on the board. They showed it in the bowl game how they put up 70 points on a really good Clemson team," Johnson says of WVU's Orange Bowl victory. "I feel that they know how to get the ball in the end zone and for me, my overall goal is to get to the league and that's basically all about putting points up and making plays."

A player with an overall goal of getting the NFL was intrigued by the Jacksonville Jaguars' selection of Justin Blackmon with the fifth overall pick in this past weekend's draft.

Blackmon, like other receivers before him, is a product of WVU head coach Dana Holgorsen's offense.

"He's a great player," Johnson says of Blackmon. "I've seen him before this past season came up when he was going into the season and I saw his highlights of him putting in work. I just thought he was going to go first round and he came in and did work and that's what happened."

Past players' success is a good sign for what Johnson could accomplish in the same system in Morgantown, but he does not allow what others have done guide him in his own selection process.

"It's all about opportunities and how many times you can get the ball in the hands of your playmakers," he says. "West Virginia's a team that throws the ball a lot and they run it too, but they know when to do it against which teams. They recognize from practices and things like that who their best playmakers are and that transfers over to the field."

There is no doubt that Johnson has been a playmaker for Jesuit and with the work ethic he claims to possess, he should be able to take advantage of the opportunity if it comes.

That is why college coaches are interested, to turn him into their playmaker. Now teams like WVU and plenty others wait to find out where he feels will be the best fit.