MINNEAPOLIS -- If it weren't for a series of unfortunate events last September, the Minnesota Vikings might not have their starting split end on the roster.

Wide receiver Jerome Simpson was a week from returning to the Vikings' roster after a three-game suspension for drunken driving, when ESPN reported on Sept. 18 that Simpson had been cited in July for misdemeanor marijuana possession and driving with an open bottle. The Vikings released Simpson later that day, and signed Charles Johnson off the Cleveland Browns' practice squad the next day.

It seemed at the time like a move to replenish the Vikings' wide receiver depth with a known commodity -- quarterbacks coach Scott Turner had been Johnson's position coach the previous year in Cleveland -- but Johnson was less than a year removed from knee surgery, and didn't play more than 20 snaps in a game until Nov. 16. From that point on, though, he caught 25 passes for 415 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and supplanted Cordarrelle Patterson as the team's "X" receiver.

In organized team activities and minicamp, there was no mystery about where Johnson figured in the Vikings' plans. He was lined up at split end all spring, and teamed with Mike Wallace and Jarius Wright in the team's three receiver sets.

"He was recovering from that knee surgery a year ago and I don't know that he was ever 100 percent," offensive coordinator Norv Turner said. "I think he's 100 percent. He's got great work ethic, and he's a big, strong guy. He's a 218-pound receiver that can run. He's got everything you need to be a productive player in this league."

According to ESPN Stats and Information, 33 of Johnson's 58 targets were at least 10 yards downfield, and 13 of those 58 were 20 or more yards downfield. Johnson and Teddy Bridgewater needed to connect more consistently on longer throws -- they hit a pair of touchdowns, but Bridgewater was intercepted once and didn't have another completion to Johnson of longer than 20 yards. Still, the Vikings' faith in Johnson as a downfield threat seems to be there.

Johnson worked out in Southern California with Bridgewater and a number of the Vikings' receivers this offseason, and also spent time in Houston with Rischad Whitfield, the "Footwork King" who has counted Antonio Brown and DeAndre Hopkins among his clients.

After a healthy offseason, Johnson could turn out to be a find for the Vikings. He started last year on a practice squad, though, and doesn't seem ready to assume anything yet.

"It feels great to be out here -- to be on the field and playing," Johnson said last week. "But you're never secure. You never want to just lay down and say, 'Man, I made it.' I'm always working. We're always working together. Nobody here has been handed anything."