ESPN: Can Larry Johnson get back to his former self?
 

If the line block well, LJ will be a beast.

Any RB can thrive in this new cutback Donkey offensive.

Not unless/until he gets bench for Kolby Smith.

LJ only runs well when he's pissed off.

I thought he went down aweful easy in a couple runs

LJ thinks youre a bitch

Larry Is The Man And Will Always Be The Man Its No Reason 2 Run Hard In A Preseason Game If Your Spot Is Set In Stone But U Watch When The Season Begins In Patriot Land LJ Is Gonna Bring The Beast Back Out!!

Then after the game he'll plow your mom and give her a nice creampie.

I look for LJ to have a good season. Barring another wussy injury, of course.

I think our line is just good enough to bring a halfway decent running game. Nothing spectacular. But, the main thing is this; we have change of pace RBs to send in with fresh legs and lots and lots of speed. That will make all the difference. If the mysterious and inscrutable Chan has the sense of a homeless, deformed emu, he'll call plays that run the enemy all over the field wearing them down so that, by the 3rd quarter, LJ can rip the enemy's soul right out of their ass, douse it with some 5 dollar gas, set it ablaze on the 50 yard line, urinate on the ashes, and dance on the grisly remains for the enjoyment of all.

FAX

If he does it would be surprising, backs like him usually breakdown very early on especially with the high number of carries he's had.

I think he got enough of a break last year.

Well history said he would get injured last year after carrying it 400+ times...

You know ... this sounds eerily familiar ... like an echo from the past ... deja vuish ... almost as if I've heard this ... before ... maybe ... 5,587,622 times before ...

FAX

That's good but people still don't seem to understand, he's an old RB with a ton of carries that hasn't prolonged his career by avoiding contact.

It's like people expect him to be productive for 4 more years which is absurd.

Herm would love to run him another 420+ carries this year...

No way LJ is the back he was before his record setting year...

History proved that last year and will continue this year. IF Herm and Gailey are smart, LJ wont touch the ball more than 320 times this year and that is still alot of touches.

:clap:

I love Larry and all, but there's something weird about the way he's been running this preseason. Maybe he's not going full speed or he doesn't have his legs under him yet, but something is...off...he doesn't look like the old Larry. It's like there's a hitch in his gitalong. It's not HUGE, but I see something.

Mecca I know its unheard of on this board but i respect your opinion and enjoy football conversations with you. But this one I have to disagree. I beleive LJ does have alot of miles on him. Right now Im thinking he's looking at about 1100 1200 yrds and 9-12 td's. I dont think that is unrealistic he is more then capable of that. I also believe he has two more years of this left in his tank.
As far as the avoiding contact part, I can't deny it's true but it's football. I am tired of this run for the sideline/fold into the fetal position bullshit. You can say what you like about LJ but he's not a coward. I'm going to use R. Bush not because he's a USC guy but because he's the poster child for pussy ball. Bush has never found a sideline he didn't love to run to, and because of this he will never be a complete back. Yes there have been other backs who have used the sideline at the end of runs to avoid a shot or two, but you have to be able to run between the tackles. the loss of McCallister last year and the saints having to rely on Bush was more then proof. bush is a back you scheme with but a guy like Duece will get you tough runs and move the pile. you will always need a guy willing to do that to win in the NFL.
Now a guy like Bush might have a longer career but he or guys like him will never have a 1750 yard 20+ td season that a work horse is capable of.

I've always felt that LJ benefited tremendously from what was arguably one of the greatest offensive lines of all times after Priest suffered his injury and he was de-diapered. 400 carries or no 400 carries, he didn't look the same after our big Willie hung it up, for example. One has to wonder if LJ was ever the running back people believed him to be.

FAX

This is just dumb, FAX. 2006 disproves your statement. Larry had a great season that year. A GREAT SEASON. With no Roaf. And no Trent Green for most of the year, either.

History says your gonna post the same shit in every thread that includes LJ.

Actually most people say that backs have a total amount of carries in their college, and pro career, before they start to break down.

LJs mileage is actually pretty low for his age.

And had his dick ran into the dirt....

The load he carried in 2006 isnt something to be proud of... That was ****ing stupid from our Coaching staff...

Diaper Boy is done. He has two things working against him, every back to have over 400 carries has never been the same and he got paid already and doesn't care anymore.

Your moms mileage.... Eh I got nothing...

Nevermind! LMAO

We Chiefs fans have to take what we can get. No Super Bowl for us, so I'll be proud of the year Larry carried the team on his back into the playoffs...

What about Eric Dickerson?

If you say so... To me it is an embarrasement that our HC was so shortsighted that he would do that to his bread and butter RB... almost as bad as DV's win now attitude that left us old and empty..

There was no one else to carry the ball.

And I am really tired of talking about two thousand and ****ing six.

1 example? Lets look at all the backs that have broken 400 carries and compare them to get a honest average...

Then dont, you brought it up.

I brought it up for a good reason.

You decided to use it as a negative. Pointless.

With 2 1000 yd seasons in the 8 years after I'd say he was done too. One was a great year after and the other was average. Not to mention he was hurt more than not.

In the grand scheme of things
it don't matter

True. I see LJ as a a short yardage runner by the time we're solid.

they should have his replacement drafted
by the time this team is knocking on any important doors

I'd be pretty happy with 1200 yards and 10 TD's.

I think that's realistic behind this line, provided he stays healthy.

I think 1400 should be expected at minimum if the Chiefs are going to give LJ the ball as much as they've said they're going to.

Regardless of what they say, I doubt he sees the ball THAT much. We have too much depth to give him the ball 350+ times.

Plus, keep in mind, 1400 yards would have been good for 2nd in rushing yardage in 2007, behind LT.

I'm not saying it can't happen, but I'd be surprised is all.

1400 aint gonna happen but like I said in my previous post 1100-1200 yards 9-12 td's is very doable.

I guess we'll find out. The indications are that he'll carry it 350+ times though.

If so, then I'll be first in line calling for Herm's head.

Why run the guy into the ground when you have capable runners behind him?

I wouldn't have a problem with it had they not signed him to that huge deal. Use him and throw him away. Fine by me.

But after giving him that contract, and now coming off a serious injury, you gotta protect your investment, IMO.

I'll be surprised if has one carry over 300, there are at least ten games this year that we will be so far behind by the 3rd quarter that he'll only get 8 or so carries after half time.

Highly unlikely. The Chiefs are a better team than they were a year ago, and last year they were in almost every game in the 4th.

Bush is a completely different kind of back, he's more about creating mismatches and big plays and being versatile. I don't think he'll ever be a work horse back I'd have told you that before he was ever drafted.

He'll have a much longer career than any work horse back though, Bush will likely be in the league for 10 years.

Considering there were only 6 guys with 300+ carries last year, the odds are with you.

You keep flying that homer flag. This year aint gonna be pretty.

Give me a good reason why we'll be getting blown out in the third quarter 10+ times this year. Give me one good reason. Your prediction isn't based in reality.

I'll give you two reasons.
1. Our offense
2. Our defense

So you think the Chiefs are worse this year? That would really be the only reason to think they're going to get blown out a bunch of times.

Last I checked we are still coached by Herm....

That doesnt give me the greatest feeling going into the season...

It means we may lose. It doesn't mean we'll get blown out.

There probably better, but by week 6 we will be out of the playoff race and it wont matter...

:hmmm:

That was the year that he carried the rock 8 thousand times, though. Wasn't it? I think we've had this conversation before. Total yards can be very misleading when you set the record for touches.

Anyhow, I can't prove this out. It's just a feeling that I have. One of those dumb ones I think about when the nights are long and cold and the drifter done stole my baby.

FAX

Although I like the direction we seem to be going yes I think we will be worse. As far as being blown out, young corners(secondary in general) plus NO pass rush at all means Brody will have to throw a lot. Which is not what we want him doing all this equals a lot of blow outs.

I understand that fatigue, Mr. GoChiefs. However, I should mention that you, in fact, were the one who brought it up.

Again.

FAX

I see your point, but based on preseason so far the defense looks pretty good.

LJ is gonna rush for 1200 yards. Herm will win us a Super Bowl in the next 4 years. You heard it here first!!! IT'S STILL AUGUST BITCHES!!!!!!!!

I'd say you have to leave the Bears offense out of the whole deal they actually make us look like the colts. the Cardinals, by far not a good team, have some play makers this is more what we can expect. lots of recievers open over the middle and big plays capable at any second.

That approach, I believe, would necessarily fall under the category of "Most Asinine Coaching Decisions Of All Times", Mr. GoChiefs.

We are, for some reason and by some unknowable miracle of fate, very deep at RB this year - and some of those guys can burn. I think Herm and the mysterious and inscrutable Chan need to rotate in the speed guys as often as possible in order to A) Keep LJ's legs fresh and B) Force the enemy D to run their asses all over the place. If they ration our remarkable running back resource properly, it could make an enormous difference in the performance of both our offense and defense as well as contribute to a much better overall record come season's end.

FAX

IIRC, the Cardinals starters had gained less than 100 yards before halftime.

We gave up 86 yards in the first half against Arizona.

But still had the lead imagine what a good team will do.

Wasnt it tied at HT?

no 7-6

6-6, genius.

like i said the cards aren good ust have some playmakers. It'll be worse when teams gameplan and go after the Chiefs. Look I'm not doomin and gloomin we are rebuilding and very very young i'm on board but also realistic its going to be ugly at times.

Uh oh thought the disputed td came before half either way we were outplayed, dont get snippy im trying my best to have a decent conversation with you even though my respect for you is very very low so keep it civil jackass.

It did. That was their only drive worth a shit.

By the way, the Cards had the league's 12th ranked offense a year ago. 25 points a game. Not exactly horrible.

We had two good 12-play drives against their defense and our defense more than held it's own. We get the ball into the end zone once or god forbid twice and people around here are jumping for joy.

Our 2nd string was also in at the beginning of the 2nd qrtr.

Even with those 400+ carries he is still a low mileage back. He didn't play that much in college.

Except for the fact that his injury had nothing to do with "wear and tear" from getting too many carries. If he had 20 carries the year before, that play would have sidelined him for the season. I know what you mean, but cmon that injury had nothing to do with carrying it 400 times the year before.

Uh, the Cards were 4-5, 3 and out drives with the first team in I believe. Hardly outplayed. And that was with their best QB in. It's not like the first team D did that against a POS like Lienart. There was a legit NFL QB in.

:rolleyes: He's had plenty of time to rest up and heal. You had a point last year but I don't think the 400 carry excuse carries over if you sit out 9 games the previous year.

That's what I was talking about in regards to him not being pissed off. I've noticed that since the latter part of 2005. He piled up a lot of yards then and in '06 due to the strength of the offensive line...but with few exceptions he hasn't run aggressively since early '05 when he was trying to prove he should be the starter ahead of Priest. He's more powerful now and probably even faster now with the offseason training he's done the last couple of years, but he's running with patience and that's not something he should be doing. Guaranteed if Herm goes a couple of games where Smith and Charles get the majority of the carries that'll light a fire under his ass.

I think you've put your finger on it, Mr. B_Ambuehl. Hesitancy. LJ's running with hesitancy ... like he doesn't trust the hole to be there, so he's waiting for it to open up. Or, maybe it's simply because he's a little tired of getting hit by 9 guys at the LOS.

FAX

I think I noticed it most on his 18-yard gallop. It didn't look like he was running full speed. It's like he saw a corner 10 yards in front of him and wanted to put a move on him. I want Larry to just go full speed and run that ****er over. I'm not sure what's going on.

They say that most guys reach a point in their NFL career (if it lasts that long) when they just don't want to take any more hits. It's a subconscious thing. If that's what's going on, he probably doesn't even realize it.

FAX

It's weird because I do see Larry go full speed, but it seems I only see it when he's trying to run away from people. He doesn't seem to want to run full speed into guys anymore.