Wide receiver Tyron Johnson is transferring from LSU

LSU’s wide receiving corps just got a little thinner on Thursday when sophomore Tyron Johnson announced his intentions to transfer.

The 6’1”, 189-pound Johnson caught nine passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns in nine games as a true freshman in 2015.

Per 247Sports, Johnson was ranked as the nation’s No. 27 overall prospect, No. 5 wide receiver and top-ranked player in the state of Louisiana back in 2015.

The timing of Johnson’s transfer is interesting. The Tigers are one week into fall camp and just a few weeks away from the beginning of the 2016 season. Perhaps Johnson figured to play a more prominent role in the offense this fall, but he was at least third on the depth chart behind veteran receivers Malachi Dupre and Travin Dural.

According to Ross Dellenger of The Advocate, Johnson’s father, Tyrone, suggested his son wanted to play in a more “wide-open offense.”

"He wanted to go to a more wide open offense," the elder Johnson said. "That was the only reason why."

He is blocked from transferring immediately to another SEC school, but could go the junior-college route and re-enter the SEC next year. When Johnson picked the Tigers out of high school, he chose them over Texas Tech, Clemson and Oklahoma State.

Fans will likely blame offensive coordinator Cam Cameron for Johnson’s departure. He is the third receiver to leave Baton Rouge in the past eight months, following John Diarse and Trey Quinn.

However, it appeared freshmen Dee Anderson, Stephen Sullivan and Drake Davis were all ahead of Johnson on the depth chart behind Dupre and Dural.

Johnson is expected to pick a new school within the next week.