Can Al Johnson play RT?

[DawnOfANewD]

The consensus seems to be that Johnson is too small to play C. However, he is reasonably athletic, has decently quick feet, and moves laterally pretty well. Since a RT needs to have all those traits in order to be able to say, take on speedy rush ends and to be able to run sideways and upfield to block on screens, would Parcells consider moving Johnson to RT (and filling the vacated C position with Gurode who played C at Colorado, or drafting/signing a FA C)?

What Johnson might lack in athleticism and agility, he makes up for in smarts. I think he'd match up well against the better LDE's in the league like Will Smith or Patrick Kerney. Also, while a lot of the best RT's such as Ryan Diem and Willie Anderson measure weight-wise in the 320's or over, there are an equal number of solid RT's who are lighter (300-310 lbs.) such as NE's Brandon Gorin, SEA's Sean Locklear, JAX's Maurice Williams, CAR's Jordan Gross etc. Johnson is under 300 lbs. which is too light for C, but it would seem he wouldn't have to add too much weight (thus not compromising his mobility too much) to fit at RT.

Johnson needs a place to play somewhere but I don't really know offhand how many C's have made a successful switch to T so I guess I can't say how likely it is that his transition to RT would prove a positive move, but it seems worth a shot. Maybe he doesn't have a true position, but he was a 2nd-round pick and he's young, smart, has that aforementioned decent athleticism, and was rated by the Sporting News prior to the season as being one of the best C's in terms of pass-protection, so I don't want DAL to just give up on him...

 

[Torn_ACL]

Not unless he can grow 4 or 5 inches and add about 20-30 pounds or most importantly, get good.

 

[Wolverine]

Not unless he can grow 4 or 5 inches and add about 20-30 pounds or most importantly, get good.

Johnson is 6'5" 305 lbs. There are smaller Centers then him. Johnsons problem is that he would get manhandled even by most punters or kickers if they lined up across from him.

 

[The30YardSlant]

You're such a moron.

In other news, there was a large explosion over Hiroshima, Japan this morning....

 

[Wolverine]

You're such a moron.

Oooops....my bad. Even if LeCharles Bently becomes a FA no way would I want him over Al Johnson.

 

[Vinnie2u]

Not unless he can grow 4 or 5 inches and add about 20-30 pounds or most importantly, get good.

I really don't know what Johnsons shortcommings are but: If you look at one of the best offensive lines Denver They are all smaller than Johnson.

Matt Lepsis, Tackle 6'4" 290
Ben Hamilton, Guard 6'4" 283
Tom Nalen, Center 6'3" 286
Cooper Carlisle, Guard 6'5" 285
George Foster, Tackle 6'5" 338

Maybe the problem is that the offensive line scheme does not fit the personel?
Bill has had 3 years to revamp the line to fit his scheme and it's still in disaray.

 

[speedkilz88]

The problem is they try to run both the zone and man schemes and have some players suitable for zone and guys like Allen, Gurode, and Flo more suitable for man.

Though the Flo at LT could play either. Gurode could play zone if he could hit a moving target but he can't; and Larry no longer has the wheels for zone.

They truly need to figure out what they want to do on offense which is presumably zone blocking. To do that they need to let Larry Allen go since he doesnt fit that scheme.

 

[Redball Express]

I see several issues that are the cause of the problems for the OL and with Johnson.

They've been discussed ad nauseum and I won't rehash most of it.

But the single biggest issue has been Johnson being injured right from his rookie season, on.

He lost the first year completely with the knee, he had an average-to-good second year and now his third year, he became a focus of the defense and it showed he has some limits and then he played injured for a good part of the year, making the defense focus on him more..since he was the only guy BP trusted, even injured.

I don't think he's a weak link. I think he's played at a disadvantage either physically or mentally just about his whole career here.

Then, add in the fact that BP has had how many different OL position coaches since being here..

I've lost count..is it 2 or 3..something like that.

That's a lot to overcome. While many might think the position coach as not being very important, it's tremendously important and somehow, the coaching has to stabilize. Sparano still hasn't proven he can do the job, yet..to me. He, too, is new at his position and he didn't get much help from BP when we took a flyer on Rodgers and then had to also deal with Pettiti and Tucker having to come thru.

Guys that are 6th and 7th Rd. picks.

So I think we get Al Johnson healthy and stronger in the off-season and rested and don't work him too hard in TC and work on the other positions more for improvement.

I'm not in favor of pusuing more expensive FA's or high draft picks to fill positions like C.

Al Johnson was one of BP's first draft picks. BP needs to spend some time with him if necessary as an ol'e OL-man and get him moving forward.

So we'll see.

parcellswaterboy

 

[JakeCamp12]

Al Johnson=Clay Shiver

 

[Sarge]

:signmast: