Josh Johnson ( American football ) Joshua Johnson ( born May 15 , 1986 ) is an American football quarterback who plays for the Cleveland Browns of the NFL . He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL Draft . He played college football at San Diego where he was coached by current 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh . Early years . Johnson attended Oakland Technical High School and was a letterman in football , basketball , and track & field . In football , as a senior , he was named the team ' s Most Improved Player , was a first team All - City selection , and led his team to the Oakland Athletic League Championship . Personal . Johnson is the cousin of current Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch . They both attended Oakland Technical High School . College career . 2004 – 2005 . Josh Johnson enrolled at University of San Diego in 2004 , where he played backup quarterback to Todd Mortensen . He finished with 135 yards on the season . Johnson earned the starting job after Mortensen ' s departure for the 2005 season . That season , he earned some All - America honors after breaking numerous records . Johnson , who earned three conference player of the week honors , totaled eight games with four or more passing touchdown s . His best game of the season came against Valparaiso , when he threw for a school - record seven touchdowns ( all coming in the first half ) . He also had five touchdowns and 375 yards against Morehead State in the Pioneer Football League Championship victory . Johnson finished the season with 3 , 256 yards and 36 touchdowns , completing 70 . 1 % of his passes en route to being named team MVP . 2006 . After his record - setting sophomore season , Johnson continued his prosperity by being named third - team Associated Press All - America on his junior season . He was also named PFL Offensive Player of the Year as he led San Diego to a 10 - 0 start . He also led San Diego to their first Top 25 appearance in school history . Johnson finished his season with 3 , 320 yards and 34 touchdowns passing , and 720 yards and 11 touchdowns rushing . He led the FCS in total offense , passing efficiency , passing yards , and points responsible for . Johnson totaled four games with over 300 yards passing , while his season - best was a 384 - yard performance against Jacksonville . Johnson also had a 25 - yard reception touchdown on the season . In the victory over Jacksonville , Johnson also set a school - record with 470 total yards of offense . Johnson finished 6th in the voting for the Walter Payton Award , for the best player in the FCS . 2007 . After two tremendous seasons , Johnson entered the 2007 season on the Walter Payton Award watchlist and as a Preseason All - American . In Johnson ' s first game of the season , he passed for 403 yards and 4 touchdowns . He then followed it up with two straight games of six touchdowns . Against Davidson College , Johnson passed for a career - high 428 yards and 6 touchdowns . Johnson finished the season with 2 , 988 yards and a school - record 43 touchdowns passing , one interception , and a career - high 726 yards and two touchdowns rushing . Johnson finished the season as the school ' s record - holder in career touchdown passes and passing yards ; he already owned the school record for career completions . Johnson finished the season by being named a third - team FCS All - American and a Payton Award finalist . Johnson holds the record for the highest career passer efficiency ( 176 . 68 ) in NCAA Division - I football history . He finished third in voting for the Walter Payton Award behind winner Jayson Foster . Professional career . 2008 NFL Draft . After his senior football season , Johnson was invited to play in the 2008 East - West Shrine Game in Houston , Texas , and was named the game ' s Offensive MVP after finishing the game with 5 completions out of 11 pass attempts for 78 yards and a touchdown and 103 rushing yards on three attempts . Despite his small school background , Johnson had his name on many team ' s draft boards . He was aided by his impressive NFL Combine performances , in which he posted the best 40 yard dash time ( 4 . 44 ) , broad jump and vertical jump of any quarterback in the 2008 NFL Combine . He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the 25th pick of the fifth round ( 160th overall ) in 2008 NFL Draft . Tampa Bay Buccaneers . 2009 / 2010 . Johnson made his first appearance in a regular season NFL game on September 27 , 2009 , at Tampa ' s Raymond James Stadium against the New York Giants . When Johnson replaced Byron Leftwich as Tampa Bay ' s quarterback with 9 : 33 remaining , the Buccaneers had accumulated only 35 total yards and one first down against the favored Giants . Taking his first pro snap , Johnson found Antonio Bryant for 6 yards , marking the afternoon ' s first reception by a Tampa Bay wide receiver . Johnson ran for 15 yards and added three more completions for 30 yards as the Buccaneers finished with 86 yards in a 24 - 0 loss . Johnson drove the Buccaneers from their own 24 to the New York 5 - yard line in his only possession . One of Johnson ' s passes zipped through Michael Clayton ' s hands in the end zone . Johnson was named the starting quarterback on September 28 , 2009 and earned his first career start on October 4 in a 16 - 13 loss to the Washington Redskins . He threw his first career touchdown to Antonio Bryant on his first pass of the game . In the 2010 season , Johnson notched a 95 . 6 passer rating as backup quarterback , and also made appearances in the offense ' s wildcat formation . 2011 . On December 4 , 2011 , Johnson started in place of the injured Josh Freeman against the Carolina Panthers . Johnson completed 16 of his 27 passing attempts with 229 passing yards , one touchdown pass , and one interception . Tampa Bay lost the game 38 - 19 . He also made a brief appearance the following week , but attempted only two passes , one for 3 yards , and the other an interception . San Francisco 49ers . On March 24 , 2012 , Johnson signed a two - year deal with the San Francisco 49ers , reuniting with his coach from the University of San Diego , Jim Harbaugh . On August 31 , 2012 , Johnson was one of 21 players cut as the 49ers trimmed their roster to the 53 man limit for the regular season . Johnson tried out for the Chicago Bears on December 12 . Cleveland Browns . On December 26 , 2012 , the Cleveland Browns have announced they have signed Johnson after injuries to Brandon Weeden and Colt McCoy .