SANTA CLARA – Don't complain to Bryant Johnson about having to play second fiddle to a star teammate. For five seasons in Arizona, the new 49ers wide receiver toiled at what can only be described as third fiddle behind fellow receivers Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin.
This year, the former first-round pick finally has the chance to show what he can do as a top receiver. And better yet, that mission begins Sunday against his former team.
"It's going to be fun for me personally," Johnson said. "But I'm trying not to (overdose) emotionally in situations like that and get out of my game. So I'm just going to have fun like I do against anybody else."
In 2003, the Cardinals selected Johnson with the 17th overall pick to bolster a receiving corps that lost David Boston, Frank Sanders and MarTay Jenkins in the offseason.
But a unit that seemed thin at the time quickly fattened up when the team took Boldin in the next round. A year later, the Cardinals used the No. 3 overall pick to take Fitzgerald.
Suddenly, the guy who was going to be the Cardinals' next superstar was merely superfluous.
"I won't say it was disappointing," Johnson said. "I'll just say it was something I had to deal with. I had no control over who they were going to draft and the type of decisions they make. All I can do is try to be the best football player I can possibly be."
And in that, Johnson succeeded.
Despite the star tandem in front of him, Johnson managed 39 starts in the past five seasons and to catch 210 passes for 2,675 yards and nine touchdowns. He had a season-high 80 receiving yards in last year's second meeting with the 49ers, and he would have had the game-winning touchdown catch had Donald Strickland not poked the ball from his hands at the last second.
Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner called John- son's defection to the 49ers a big loss.
"He's just a tremendous pro – knew what he was doing," Warner said. "He was a No. 3 (receiver) here but, as we know, probably deserved to be in a higher position than that. … He's that kind of talent. To have that as your No. 3 receiver was just a great position as a quarterback to be in."
Warner called Johnson his "security blanket" when opposing defenses overloaded their coverages to stop Boldin and Fitzgerald. Now the Cardinals are having difficulty finding a replacement blanket.
Three players – rookie Early Doucet, second-year player Steve Breaston and veteran Jerheme Urban – are competing to be Arizona's No. 3 receiver this year. So far, Breaston appears to be the frontrunner.
"This business is about the next guy stepping up," Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said. "Some of the more successful teams that I've been with, that's what happens.
Johnson said he talks with Boldin "a lot" and with Fitzgerald "sporadically," and he probably knows as much about their strengths and weaknesses as anyone.
But he said he didn't have any plans to walk across the locker room and share their secrets with new teammates Nate Clements and Walt Harris. For one thing, he said, veteran cornerbacks like them can gather all the information they need from watching film.
And moreover, Johnson said he can't recall much from last year's offense.
"Honestly, I don't really remember the playbook anymore," he said. "Once I've been (immersed) into this (Mike) Martz offense, I forgot about the playbooks from past years. … There's no room in the brain."
Read Matthew Barrows' 49ers blog at www.sacbee.com/ninersblog.
