Keep ****ing doubting Rishaw Johnson.

[Direckshun]

http://www.arrowheadpride.com/2014/3...-johnson-guard

Kansas City Chiefs G Rishaw Johnson impressed late last season
By Joel Thorman
on Mar 19 2014, 8:44a

Regular readers may have noticed that we recently posted an item on Chiefs safety Sanders Commings and whether he could end up being the answer at free safety. Right here we have another post wondering if an in-house player is the answer at a position of need.

The position is guard and the player is Rishaw Johnson.

As a refresher, Johnson was an SEC recruit at Ole Miss in 2008. He was there until 2010 when he was kicked off the team. He then went to California (PA). He joined the Seahawks in his first season in the NFL then came to Kansas City his second year. The league lists him at 6'3 and 313 pounds. Last year's starting guards are listed at 340 pounds (Geoff Scwhartz), 306 pounds (Jon Asamoah) and 305 pounds (Jon Asamoah).

Matt Conner included Johnson in our in-house players series earlier this year but I came across a couple more of items on Johnson that warrants another look-see.

Last week, I saw this from Lance Zierlein, sports talk radio host in Houston and football writer:

Lance Zierlein @LanceZierlein

@bkissel7 @Schottey Chiefs believe Rishaw is ready to take over. They LOVED how he played vs. SD at end of the year.

Johnson was among the Chiefs backups that played in Week 17 against the Chargers while the starters rested but a backup throughout the season. That caught my interest for obvious reasons being free agency week and all. If the Chiefs believe they possibly / maybe / could have a potential starting guard on the roster, they probably wouldn't go out and spend big money on a guard in free agency, right?

Terez A. Paylor @TerezPaylor

This is true. Did well vs SD RT @ArrowheadPride: Seems like a long shot but Chiefs do have an in-house option at OG http://sbn.to/1jxEmMw

But wait! There's more!

Schwartz, who is now with the Giants in New York, went on The Drive with Danny Parkins on 610 Sports on Tuesday. Danny asked him what the Chiefs have in the guys who were behind him on the Chiefs line last season.

"Rishaw played really well in the Chargers game," Schwartz said. "He's a guy that has a lot of talent and he really developed as the year went on. He's strong and explosive off the ball. Sometimes it takes guys a couple of years to get comfortable where they're playing in a game. He did a great job against the Chargers."

Another mention of the Chargers game ... interesting. This led me to asking Chiefs GM John Dorsey on our call yesterday how important that Week 17 game was for the coaching staff and front office, getting the youngsters a shot to play.

"Anytime you can get another opportunity to evaluate the players that don't get to contribute on a week-in, week-out basis, that's very helpful," Dorsey said. "What it does is it helps the coaching staff get a degree of comfort that those guys in the personnel department as they build this thing. That's what the communication between the coaches and the personnel staff does. It's always an advantage to get those guys to play and those guys showed very well on Week 17 of the NFL schedule."

Unfortunately, Dorsey wasn't giving us an in-depth scouting report on Johnson but he did say this: "He's going to come in here and he's going to compete. He's showed that he can play the game of football, and I'm just excited to see how much stride he has made here this year."

It's a long way to the season opener with more free agency and the 2014 NFL Draft to acquire more talent as well as evaluation opportunities such as OTAs and training camp to evaluate existing talent. Rishaw Johnson is one of those existing talents that is one to keep an eye on.

It's almost like the Sanders Commings situation. You have hopes that this guy can come in and take over the job next year. But he's probably too young and inexperienced to hand the job to him. Competition and veteran insurance (Jeff Linkenbach?) is needed.

My gut has been telling me for a while that the Chiefs first round pick will be an offensive lineman. That would obviously shake things up.

[milkman]

Originally Posted by Messier

Oh shut up, you grump.

I am not regretting the trade for Smith.

Hell, I am not even complaining about the Chiefs lack of activity this year.

I am arguing the stupid rationalizations by the people that are defending that lack of activity.

[milkman]

Originally Posted by philfree

His career was turning around but whatever.

Let me give you a clue.

Alex Smith wasn't the subject of my post.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by milkman

I am suggesting that the Chiefs should spend money in free agency to fill the 2 most glaring holes.
Not asking to make huge investments.

I would rather collect 4 draft comp picks and use our money to invest in major extensions for Smith, Houston, and Berry. That also gives you a chance to frontload Smith's contract.

You don't trade 2 2nd round picks for a QB to regain respectability.
You trade late picks for that QB.

Other than Carson Palmer to the Cardinals (which may have been a fluke and definitely isn't a long-term answer)... how many late round trades for QB actually do that? I don't like the comp we gave up for Alex Smith. But it's silly that people think because we traded Smith we need to start stockpiling free agents around him immediately to justify the investment. The Seahawks traded a 3rd and a 20-pick 2nd round swap to bring in Charlie Whitehurst. I'd say they still managed to build a terrific team because they focused on the draft.

What the Chiefs are telling us is that winning in the regular season in their priority.

It's hard to believe that after what the Chiefs did this offseason, that their goal is to just put butts in seats as you claim. If they truly believed that, then why wouldn't they take the safe approach and sign one of their low-priced Guards for cheap? It sure seems to me that what the Chiefs are doing is telling us our primary priority is building through the draft. And I like that a lot better than what we did last year.

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

I would rather collect 4 draft comp picks and use our money to invest in major extensions for Smith, Houston, and Berry. That also gives you a chance to frontload Smith's contract.

Why do you think we would get 4 comp picks?...

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by Rausch

Why do you think we would get 4 comp picks?...

You get comp picks if you lose more free agents than you sign, and when you lose big money free agents and don't sign many big money free agents.

I'm sure Albert could get us a 3rd rounder, and Schwartz, Asamoah, and McCluster get us competitive comp too (Jackson neutralized by Vance Walker signing). I'm guessing signing, say, a Jairus Byrd really hurts that Albert trade comp.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by milkman

Spin it however you want, last year's offseason combined with this year's only strengthens the notion that Clark Hunt only cares about putting butts into the seats.

I think this post is really stupid on two different grounds:

Owners *do* only care about $$$. But the most reliable formula for selling seats is TO BE SUPER BOWL COMPETITIVE.

I really don't know how people argue with a straight face that zero playoff wins is the Hunts' idea for selling seats. I really don't.

My second point is, EVEN IF THAT IS HUNT'S ONLY CONCERN, then you mortgage the future on a splash free agent this offseason. You don't sit on your ass while Denver signs a Pro Bowl team.

[philfree]

Originally Posted by milkman

Let me give you a clue.

Alex Smith wasn't the subject of my post.

I don't think two 2nds was all that much but that 2nd round pick this year could help there's no doubt. True to form though the Chiefs seem to be willing to stand basically pat after a winning season where they seem close to becoming a serious contender. I don't think they just want butts in the seats though IMO they're just not very good at what they do. They want to win a championship they just don't know how.

What was your point again?

[booger]

Originally Posted by Bazooka Poe

I think having Berry around will push Johnson to succeed and make him comfortable. Those guys went to high school together.

no that was Rokevious Watkins and Berry

[planetdoc]

Breakdown: Chiefs G Rishaw Johnson's snaps vs. the Chargers

just goes through the snaps...no gifs. Cool thing is that Geoff Schwartz responds and says the author did a good job on the breakdown.

excerpt

Originally Posted by article

Takeaway
Is Rishaw Johnson the future at RG for the Chiefs? After watching every snap of Week 17 multiple times, I can definitively tell you ... I don't know.

I really like how Rishaw played for 95 percent of the game. But when he whiffed, he whiffed BADLY. He also had some of his worst snaps at the worst possible time.

That said, you can definitely see why Schwartz was praising him. He's got very good stength in both his upper and lower body. He can move in space a little bit. He plays until the whistle. He seems to have a mean streak. And he is above average at locking onto defenders at the second level of the defense when asked to do so (at least for a guy at this point in his career).

I can't give my complete vote of confidence to a guy who has played one game. But I will say that after watching Rishaw in action against a desperate group of defenders, I won't be overly surprised if the Chiefs stand pat at guard in the draft. And I won't be terribly upset about it, either.

Originally Posted by article

lest anyone think I'm just a huge homer who likes ANY Chief I watch, let me say frankly that I don't feel the same way about Kush and Rok Watkins. Both of them looked very overmatched against San Diego's defensive front. If either of them has to see playing time this next year, I believe the Chiefs could be in trouble.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by planetdoc

Breakdown: Chiefs G Rishaw Johnson's snaps vs. the Chargers

just goes through the snaps...no gifs. Cool thing is that Geoff Schwartz responds and says the author did a good job on the breakdown.

AWESOME.

Rep.

[Mr. Laz]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

I think this post is really stupid on two different grounds:

Owners *do* only care about $$$. But the most reliable formula for selling seats is TO BE SUPER BOWL COMPETITIVE.

I really don't know how people argue with a straight face that zero playoff wins is the Hunts' idea for selling seats. I really don't.

My second point is, EVEN IF THAT IS HUNT'S ONLY CONCERN, then you mortgage the future on a splash free agent this offseason. You don't sit on your ass while Denver signs a Pro Bowl team.

Heard this same stupid ass argument throughout Carl Peterson's tenure.

willing a super bowl is not the best way to sell tickets

Consistently making the playoffs and giving the fans 'hope' of maybe winning the super bowl is the safest way to sell tickets.

Really going for a Super Bowl involves a ton of risk and often leads to a rebuild. Risk,risk and more risk.

You can often tell which teams are really trying to win a super bowl and which are trying to maintain consist playoffs by their player balance. If you are really trying to win a super bowl then you have roster full of players on the same career time table. Boom or bust.

The Chiefs have half old/half young so that you never have to fully rebuild. It's the safe 'make the playoffs and see what happens' build.

Peterson made a career of this safe build. You build to make the playoffs not the super bowl. Consistency over potential, a super bowl push is too risky.

[O.city]

You want to give yourself the most chances to win a Super Bowl, consistently making the playoffs is the way to do that.

[Mr. Laz]

Originally Posted by O.city

You want to give yourself the most chances to win a Super Bowl, consistently making the playoffs is the way to do that.

good enough to make the playoffs

good enough to win in the playoffs


2 completely different things


As a Chiefs fan, if you don't know that by now then you haven't been paying attention.

[Mother****erJones]

Was Rishaw part of the waiver seven?

[O.city]

You have to make the playoffs before you can win in the playoffs.

And they aren't completely different things