Chris Johnson

[joseephuss]

I heard he was getting booed in Tennessee. What dumb fans. He is struggling right now, but 10 games left is a lot. He can possibly put up some numbers in that time. The Titans really aren't a good team and they lost their biggest outside threat in Britt.

 

[dogberry]

How many running backs are worth their second contract? Since Johnson's is early will he be worth his 1b contract?

 

[casmith07]

He's done.

 

[Cythim]

Running backs just are not as valuable as they used to be. MJD, Peterson, Johnson, Foster, and Steven Jackson are not carrying their teams into the playoffs. Nothing against Johnson, he is a very good back, I just wouldn't make that kind of deal for his position.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

He's in a slump, which was to be expected to be quite honest given how little time he had prior to the season, and how little they have as a team around him.

But I don't think this guy is done or that he isn't going to have a lot more big games in his future.

 

[DFWJC]

He's in a slump, which was to be expected to be quite honest given how little time he had prior to the season, and how little they have as a team around him.

But I don't think this guy is done or that he isn't going to have a lot more big games in his future.

CJ is running somewhat tentatively right now and the line is not doing as well either. He's a patient runner but patience and hesidency and very diffent thisngs.
Johnson loved the previous OC, Mike Heimerdinger, who died of cancer. Heimerdinger knew just how to use CJ.
Combine all of this and you have a disaster.

He'll be back eventually, but right now he is not very good at all.

 

[realtick]

He's done.

 

[Kangaroo]

He held out of the majority of training camp which tend to hurt players performance all the time. I had him rated way low on Fantasy Football because he held out and the team was going to be bad

 

[TellerMorrow34]

CJ is running somewhat tentatively right now and the line is not doing as well either. He's a patient runner but patience and hesidency and very diffent thisngs.
Johnson loved the previous OC, Mike Heimerdinger, who died of cancer. Heimerdinger knew just how to use CJ.
Combine all of this and you have a disaster.

He'll be back eventually, but right now he is not very good at all.

Good points.

He's definately bad right now but I do believe he'll be back and very productive.

 

[realtick]

Good points.

He's definately bad right now but I do believe he'll be back and very productive.

Yeah, I'm not buying it either. The guy is 26, in his fourth season and has averaged 1,532 yards a season.

I don't think he's suddenly forgotten how to run the football.

 

[joseephuss]

Yeah, I'm not buying it either. The guy is 26, in his fourth season and has averaged 1,532 yards a season.

I don't think he's suddenly forgotten how to run the football.

It is not the years, it's the mileage. He already has over 1000 rushing attempts. That is quite a bit in a short time frame.

I don't think he is done. We are seeing the result of not having an off season, a training camp or pre-season games. Throw in a bad team and I am not surprised of his low production at this point. He could still turn it around and gain 1000 yards the rest of the season and end up with a respectable 1200 yard season. Possible, but not likely. More likely he will finish with about 850 yard to 1000 yards.

I don't see his average of 1532 yards per season as a true indicator of his production. That average is bolstered by one great season in three years. His average is mostly going to be around 1300 to 1400 yards per season, which is still pretty good.

Not that it matters, but a rare few talked about him having a slight chance of breaking Emmitt's rushing record. I never thought he had a chance because when he started he was two years older than the age was when Emmitt started. A slow start to this season really hurts his chances.

 

[realtick]

It is not the years, it's the mileage. He already has over 1000 rushing attempts. That is quite a bit in a short time frame.

I don't think he is done. We are seeing the result of not having an off season, a training camp or pre-season games. Throw in a bad team and I am not surprised of his low production at this point. He could still turn it around and gain 1000 yards the rest of the season and end up with a respectable 1200 yard season. Possible, but not likely. More likely he will finish with about 850 yard to 1000 yards.

I don't see his average of 1532 yards per season as a true indicator of his production. That average is bolstered by one great season in three years. His average is mostly going to be around 1300 to 1400 yards per season, which is still pretty good.

Wait. You articulated exactly what likely the problem is with Chris Johnson this season, which is a multitude of factors: "...not having an offseason, a training camp or pre-season games...a bad team." I agree.

Yeah, it would be pretty hard for anyone to maintain a 1,500+ yard seasons, but did you honestly just glaze over the fact he did in fact have a 2,000 yard season, lol? For some reason that sounds strange to me like "yeah, Joe Blow is a good home run hitter, but that season he hit 90 really skewed the numbers."

I disagree about the too many carries issue. Emmitt Smith had way more carries through his first three seasons than Johnson. In fact, name me a great back (Tomlinson, etc.) and I'll show you a running back with a comparable amount, if not more carries than Johnson. Those two in fact had more carries than Johnson after three season than Johnson had going into his fourth (this year). Those backs have all had long productive careers. Perhaps Johnson won't be around until he's 34, but at 26 I hardly think he's "done" as some suppose.

 

[ArmyCowboy]

I watched the first half of the Titans/Texans game yesterday and Johnson just looked terrible.

Extremely hesitant, not hitting the holes with any authority and going down easily. Its like he completely lost his confidence.

It's amazing to me that a guy who looks this bad right now put up the yards he did so recently.

 

[joseephuss]

Wait. You articulated exactly what likely the problem is with Chris Johnson this season, which is a multitude of factors: "...not having an offseason, a training camp or pre-season games...a bad team." I agree.

Yeah, it would be pretty hard for anyone to maintain a 1,500+ yard seasons, but did you honestly just glaze over the fact he did in fact have a 2,000 yard season, lol? For some reason that sounds strange to me like "yeah, Joe Blow is a good home run hitter, but that season he hit 90 really skewed the numbers."

I disagree about the too many carries issue. Emmitt Smith had way more carries through his first three seasons than Johnson. In fact, name me a great back (Tomlinson, etc.) and I'll show you a running back with a comparable amount, if not more carries than Johnson. Those two in fact had more carries than Johnson after three season than Johnson had going into his fourth (this year). Those backs have all had long productive careers. Perhaps Johnson won't be around until he's 34, but at 26 I hardly think he's "done" as some suppose.

No, he isn't done. He also isn't built as compact as Emmitt or LT. He is a bit smaller than those guys. I am not saying he has had too many carries, but the number of carries means more than the number of years played for a running back.

Plus let's not downplay just how many carries he has had so far in his career. He ranks 173rd on the all time carry list with 1018 rushing attempts. That is quite a bit when you consider how many guys have played the running back position. The average number of carries for the 172 guys currently in front of him is 1606.5. The average for the top 100 running backs is 1947.8 attempts. The average for the top 20 running backs is 3045.9 attempts. So he as at least a third of the way through his career and maybe even halfway based on the number of carries.

CJ's start to his career is very similar to Eric Dickerson's start. Dickerson finished with 2996 rushing attempts. Dickerson was also a bigger guy and caught fewer passes.

 

[joseephuss]

He also has begun his diamond surrounded by trash comments much earlier in his career than Emmitt did.

http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22475988/32912771

You know what’s worse than the fact that Titans running back Chris Johnson had another subpar outing, rushing for just 18 yards on 10 carries in Tennessee’s 41-7 loss to the Texans? You know what’s worse than the fact he has accumulated just 268 yards with a 2.9 yards per carry average on the season after signing his mammoth four-year, $53.5 million ($30 million guaranteed) contract?

The fact that Johnson refuses to take accountability for any of it.

“Basically, if you are watching the game and you really can’t tell what is going on with the run game then I would say you really don’t know football,’’ Johnson said, via the Tennessean. “I wouldn’t say I am the issue. I am very confident I have been doing the things … I do.”

 

[realtick]

No, he isn't done. He also isn't built as compact as Emmitt or LT. He is a bit smaller than those guys. I am not saying he has had too many carries, but the number of carries means more than the number of years played for a running back.

Plus let's not downplay just how many carries he has had so far in his career. He ranks 173rd on the all time carry list with 1018 rushing attempts. That is quite a bit when you consider how many guys have played the running back position. The average number of carries for the 172 guys currently in front of him is 1606.5. The average for the top 100 running backs is 1947.8 attempts. The average for the top 20 running backs is 3045.9 attempts. So he as at least a third of the way through his career and maybe even halfway based on the number of carries.

CJ's start to his career is very similar to Eric Dickerson's start. Dickerson finished with 2996 rushing attempts. Dickerson was also a bigger guy and caught fewer passes.

But that's exactly what I'm saying, he's no further ahead of the good backs that have been named in terms of carries. Johnson's body type (5'11 195 lbs) is most similiar to Tony Dorsett (5'11 192 lbs) and maybe Walter Payton (5'10 200 lbs) than anyone else really. Dorsett finished his career with 2900+ carries for his career, Payton with 3800+.

Irregardless, what are we really talking about here?

Even if we use your projection of him finishing somewhere around 3,000 carries, he's in his fourth year and likely will take another six to eight years to even approach those total carries for a career.

Are we really predicting the end (or deccline) of a running back in just his fourth season who likely hasn't even hit the halfway point of his career?

All of this is way too premature.

Dorsett played 11 years, Dickerson 12 and Payton played 13.

He isn't on any pace that is faster than the other top backs in history.

 

[Beast_from_East]

Guys, my brother is a hugh Titans fan and he keeps up with what is being talked about in the Nashville media and stuff and the problem with CJ is the new OC they have.

Heimerdingle was their OC and he designed the offense for CJ. Meaning, it was based on cutback lanes to use CJ's great speed to outrun the defense. There was a lot of misdirection, overloads, ect.....to create cutback lanes for CJ.

The new OC has scraped that entire offensive scheme and has gone to almost a power run game which is not suited to CJ at all. So I thik the problem seems to be scheme as much as anything right now, not neccessarily CJ sucking.

At least that is what my brother says the word going around Nashville is. Look for the Titans to get a new OC for next year if there is any merit in this.

 

[joseephuss]

Just when it looks like he is getting things turned around this season he goes out and carries it 12 times for 13 yards against the Falcons.

 

[DFWJC]

Guys, my brother is a hugh Titans fan and he keeps up with what is being talked about in the Nashville media and stuff and the problem with CJ is the new OC they have.

Heimerdingle was their OC and he designed the offense for CJ. Meaning, it was based on cutback lanes to use CJ's great speed to outrun the defense. There was a lot of misdirection, overloads, ect.....to create cutback lanes for CJ.

The new OC has scraped that entire offensive scheme and has gone to almost a power run game which is not suited to CJ at all. So I thik the problem seems to be scheme as much as anything right now, not neccessarily CJ sucking.

At least that is what my brother says the word going around Nashville is. Look for the Titans to get a new OC for next year if there is any merit in this.

I've heard this as well.
I think it started (and still is ) the scheme. But also his holdout had him coming into the new scheme cold. He became tentative when he wasn't had early success and now it has all compounded into a crappy season.

 

[DFWJC]

He looked more like himself this week with 23 carries for 190 yards--even though TBs' run D sux.

That's about 400 yards and 5.2 yards per carry for the four Nov. games, so maybe he is coming around.