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.

[RunKC]

If Alex Smith plays like last season, then the compensation is well worth it, especially if he does what he did in Indy.

The goal should be to get a balanced team emphasizing a quality QB and quality pass rushers that can get you to the playoffs every year and give you a chance to win.

[beach tribe]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

Adding 3 to 4 picks so we have 16 to 17 picks in 2 years... if Dorsey does his job right, it adds a few starters, hopefully some playmakers, and big time quality depth. It might allow you to draft depth guys who can allow you to cut guys like Fasano, DeVito, Sean Smith, and Daniel who are eating up way too much cap.

Locking up Smith, Berry and Houston now helps us avoid the massive cap inflation next year not to mention giving other teams a chance to let them test the market and drive up the price. We can also make their contracts 2015 cap friendly. If you do that, cut some of those guys above, and restructure Hali/Flowers next year, we will have a shitload of cash for free agents and we won't have to mortgage our future to use it.

So yes, I think 16 to 17 picks and a shitload of free agent cash in 2015 could make us very good in 2015.

This whole plan depends on how they draft.
We need all the picks we can get and our entire chance for success depends on how they draft.

If we draft well, we can constantly have a loaded roster, and compete year in and year out.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by beach tribe

This whole plan depends on how they draft.
We need all the picks we can get and our entire chance for success depends on how they draft.

If we draft well, we can constantly have a loaded roster, and compete year in and year out.

Whether we spend or don't spend, it depends on us drafting well. Worst case scenario, we don't draft well and our expensive veterans are replaced by expensive veterans. People forget that when good players leave, they take their expensive contracts with them.

[O.city]

It's also not as easy as just bringing in another high prices free agent. Continuity, consistency are pretty hue in these cases.

The best teams sign their own, then let them go when they're too old.

[beach tribe]

Originally Posted by Dick Bull

That's a ridiculous comparison. Are you telling me that Payton wasn't capable of winning a superbowl last year?

It's not like at the age of 34 their arm stops working.

Yeop. Like I said, roughly 10% of SBs have been won by QBs over 34, and 34+ is proabably the lowest % of starters in the league.
Which is probably pretty favorable compared to all other age groups outside of 26-30&30-34 groups which Smith will fall under for the next four seasons.
I know, I said all of this already.

[beach tribe]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

Whether we spend or don't spend, it depends on us drafting well. Worst case scenario, we don't draft well and our expensive veterans are replaced by expensive veterans. People forget that when good players leave, they take their expensive contracts with them.

Spending is worthless if we don't draft well.
Nothing else really matters.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by O.city

It's also not as easy as just bringing in another high prices free agent. Continuity, consistency are pretty hue in these cases.

The best teams sign their own, then let them go when they're too old.

The first step is not freaking out if we think a guy like Rishaw Johnson might be worth a look at starter just because he was cut or hasn't started a single game. Especially for positions that aren't that important. If we keep buying replacements, we'll never have the kind of trust to let cheap young talent prove their worth.

[RunKC]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

The first step is not freaking out if we think a guy like Rishaw Johnson might be worth a look at starter just because he was cut or hasn't started a single game. Especially for positions that aren't that important. If we keep buying replacements, we'll never have the kind of trust to let cheap young talent prove their worth.

This is such a great post.

So many people here seem to point the finger at these young guys from the 2013 class without letting them have the chance to play things out in their due time.
Some of these guys haven't even had the chance to play yet.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by RunKC

This is such a great post.

So many people here seem to point the finger at these young guys from the 2013 class without letting them have the chance to play things out in their due time.
Some of these guys haven't even had the chance to play yet.

Maybe because up to this point, those same guys, against nfl competition, have shown to be either mediocre, or injury prone, or both.

They may end up being great, or they may keep sucking. For the chiefs sake, I hope it's the former.

[O.city]

Like it or not, the NFL is a what have you done for me lately league. Guys don't always get their due time.

[beach tribe]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

The first step is not freaking out if we think a guy like Rishaw Johnson might be worth a look at starter just because he was cut or hasn't started a single game. Especially for positions that aren't that important. If we keep buying replacements, we'll never have the kind of trust to let cheap young talent prove their worth.

And Johnson has started a game and looked damn good doing it.
Also got a ringing endorsement from the guy he's going to be replacing, who said, he improved tremendously throughout the season.
Dorsey hit on some young castoffs like Cooper. He very may well have done it again.
G is probably the position of lowest positional value, and they seem to think this guy can do. I'm very interested in seeing if they are right.
G isn't like T. Sometimes all you need is JAG at those positions.

[ShortRoundChief]

Hilarity concerning A. Smith

Check out NFL.com 05 draft do over

Notice who the chiefs pick

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap200...writers_brooks

[beach tribe]

There was seemingly no drop off in production in the SD game when Johnson filled in for Geoff S.

[O.city]

If they were doing this with just Johnson, that's one thing.

But they're banking on a lot of young unproven guys.

[O.city]

The whole "looked good in the SD game" stuff is great and all, but that's a pretty damn small sample size