Darryl Johnson doesn't know how he grew to be nearly 6'7".

His father is 6'1" and mother is 5'8." 

The thought from them is the height had to have come from his grandfather, who stood about the size Johnson is today.

"Growing up I was always kind of chunky," Johnson remembers. "Short, kind of. And then I just grown. 11th grade I hit a growth spurt. I got real skinny and my dad used to tell me 'Man, you look kind of sick! You need to be eating!' But it was just because I was growing out of that stage."

Johnson remained tall and skinnier until he began training for the NFL Draft. Weight lifting and a change in diet helped him go from 233 pounds to 253, his current playing weight.

However, packing it on did come with a whole new element to worry about.

"The challenge of adding is you got to keep that speed and be able to move, especially at our position," Johnson said. "You got to be real athletic and you got to be able to do a lot of different things with it. So my big thing was to get stronger, especially in my lower body so I could be able to run with this weight because when you put on a lot of weight and you're so used to being so small, it's a lot different."

Johnson was selected by the Bills in the 7th round of the 2019 draft. He's made the team out of training camp the past two seasons, with special teams the biggest reason.

"He's always been great for me," Bills special teams coordinator Heath Farwell said recently. "To get four phases out of a defensive end, those are hard to find. Pregame when I talk to the other coordinators, he's the first guy that they bring up. It's a mismatch having a guy that big and that fast running down the field. He's just a huge factor they have to account for."

​"Shoot, I remember when we played them when I was in Pittsburgh and just when you get the scouting report, you see the size of the dude and you watch on film and you're like, man, how am I going to block this 6'6 guy, like 280," Bills linebacker Tyler Matakevich said. "I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to block him. But once you get around him in person you realize he's even bigger than he is on paper. A guy like that, he's got so much upside to him because guys don't want to block him. Guys see him running down on kick-off, they don't want to get in his way. You turn on the film, you see what he does. If someone does get in his way, every team they have to double him. I know he gets frustrated at time, but that is just as important as making the tackle."

"I like it because it's fun," Johnson added. "Go out there and compete. It's a strain thing. Everything you got one play. You know the man across you on that certain play on special teams. You don't go out there much, but when you do you going to give it everything you got and so is the guy across from you. So I just like it because of the strain, the competitive nature of it. I just love it, love doing it."

Farwell's message to all young players is to embrace their role on special teams to buy time in hopes to eventually finding more of a place on offense or defense.

That is what Johnson is now hoping to do as he enters his third year in the league. He has seen limited playing time on the defensive line his first two seasons, just over 20% of the snaps on that side of the ball.

Part of that is because of a slower development for a player coming from a smaller school.

"He's been a little hamstrung not having an offseason a year ago," defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier said. "Most guys there's a transition from college football to pro football. He went through that, but then not having an offseason a year ago was tough for him. But this year he really seems to be on course. We like where he is. Just have to keep giving him opportunities, but we're pleased with Darryl's progress."

Still, defensive line was a major focus for the Bills this offseason, adding Greg Rousseau and Boogie Basham with their first two picks in the draft and Efe Obada via free agency. That clutters an already deep group, adding to the challenge for Johnson to break through.

For that, Frazier has a message.

"Every day you walk out here, you come out here with a chip on your shoulder," Frazier said. "You show everybody that you deserve to be here and you're fighting for a spot on this team. There's nothing different than what I told him when we drafted him out of [North Carolina] A&T. He has to come out with that attitude and approach every day as a game day for him and he's practiced that way, held his own, and done a really good job each year."

"I just feel like iron sharpens iron," Johnson said. "So you got guys that are good. You got a lot of things to work on so when you come out here you kind of pick something from everybody and kind of learn from all the guys and make your own thing. I don't really focus on whose around me and what's going on, the numbers and all that. I just focus on what I can control and that's to come out and get better every day."

Johnson has done just that to this point, making plays on a fairly regular basis throughout the first three weeks of camp. He even had a sack during the Bills preseason opener in Detroit last Friday night.

"I've definitely made a couple plays this camp, but I'm just trying to keep continuing to be consistent," Johnson said. "That's my biggest thing. I can't be here one week and you see me flash and then the next week you don't hear from me. So my biggest thing is trying to be consistent and trying to do whatever to help the defense and help our team win."

Johnson will need to continue to make plays in order to be part of that deep DL group on the initial 53-man roster.

The Bills traditionally value their own draft picks and players they have developed over those they haven't come cut day. 

But with the roster as deep as it is now, a lot of people fall under that category and that tenure may not hold as much weight as it has in the past.

"You try and weigh it all out," head coach Sean McDermott said. "I think you never want to be just stuck and say this is a guy who's been here, let's just keep him. That's not a healthy approach either. And that's why having a good staff is so important. Brandon [Beane] can ask the staff questions. I can ask my staff questions and he and I can kind of volley back and forth and making sure we're seeing it from all the different angles. Obviously as we've talked before, trying to see it short term, but also long term and who the best options are for us."

From a special teams stand point, Darryl Johnson is one of the Bills best options. 

It will all come down to how much that tips the scale or if Johnson can add weight to his impact on defense in hopes of making the team again.