ESPN: Larry Johnson On His Way to Cincinnati
by Joel Thorman on Nov 16, 2009 12:56 PM CST
in 2009 Kansas City Chiefs Campaign
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PrintFormer Kansas City Chiefs RB Larry Johnson is currently en route to Cincinnati according to ESPN's Michael Smith.
Per Smith, LJ is expected to ink a deal with the Bengals barring any breakdown.
If this happens, and it appears it will, how fitting is it for LJ? He'll be wearing stripes, albeit not the kind of stripes some of us thought he could be wearing.
The Bengals have given plenty of second chances. Sometimes it hasn't paid off. But, more recently, it has.
The Bengals re-signed Chris Henry after he was arrested four times. Henry was putting up good numbers before being injured this season.
Benson is like a young LJ almost. Both had off the field problems and major production issues. Benson was/is young enough to get another chance (and seize it).
Only time will tell if LJ can have a Benson-like resurgence as he nears age 30 later this week.
Benson suffered an injury last weekend but is expected to be available next weekend.
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I posted this over at Cincy Jungle...
I don’t think this is a very good move for you guys – LJ is the kind of back that doesn’t really get going unless he gets 20+ carries a game. He’s not a home run hitter, he just wears down the defense by continually bashing away at them. Unless you’re planning on benching Cedric Benson for him (which you’re not, because you’re not idiots) you’re not going to get much production out of him at all.
He doesn’t have any real talents other than being a bruiser. He’s not fast. He’s not particularly elusive. He sucks at pass blocking. He can’t catch. He’s old (almost 30) and worn out from overuse in KC. His best years came behind one of the best offensive lines of the last decade. There’s just no upside to him at all, and I can’t see him adding anything to your team that Benson doesn’t do already.
Here’s their thread for anyone interested…
http://www.cincyjungle.com/2009/11/16/1159894/report-larry-johnson-expected-to
so was benson
until he got behind cincy good line and now look at him
That's what I'm saying
They have Benson, what do they need LJ for? He’s just a shittier copy of what they already have. All signs are that his injury isn’t that serious, so it’s not like they’re expecting LJ to be filling in for him for the rest of the season or anything.
but benson was just as shitty
as LJ before he came to cincy and now look at him hes one of the best in the league, I know there the same style runner but i think he will do pretty good in cincy
Benson was hurt this weekend...
some kind of hip injury. I think they’re bringing Johnson in as an insurance policy. I think they’re gambling that he can make it through a month and a half as a backup without causing a huge stink. He might, too, just to try to prove that it was the Chiefs and not him that was the problem… but given his tendency for self-destructive behavior, I’d say it’s 50/50 that he can hold out for 6 weeks.
by u2nspenserfan on Nov 16, 2009 1:12 PM CST up reply actions
Benson did also have far fewer carries than LJ and a prolonged time out of the game to re-evaluate whether he really wanted to be a NFL RB or a pothead. Benson changed his whole attitude and character… i doubt LJ can say that
Most Bengals fans don’t want him.
by Sheffieldbengal on Nov 16, 2009 2:43 PM CST up reply actions
Make sure someone posts...
that pick of 2.7 in his trucker hat and pink swatch over there at CincyJungle.
well LJ got what he wanted
He got out of KC, got paid, and went to a contender.
haha thats so true
He’ll be wearing stripes, albeit not the kind of stripes some of us thought he could be wearing.
by tomahawk44 on Nov 16, 2009 1:01 PM CST reply actions 1 recs
Benson is hurt
So that is the reason they picked him up. I don’t care if the guy goes on to look like an all pro again. He wasn’t doing it here. And he would be finished as a player by the time we put a line tegether. If you are one that believes he still has talent, then I would look at it like the Eagles with TO. Sometimes addition by subtraction is better.
by vincent2668 on Nov 16, 2009 1:10 PM CST via mobile reply actions
LJ's done
He’s a joke of a running back. I’m predicting no more than 3.0 YPC during his time in Cincy (if he doesn’t screw the signing up somehow)
by The Other Patrick Allen on Nov 16, 2009 1:13 PM CST reply actions
Lj will avg more than
3 ypc, he got 2.7 behind our line i think think it will be high but it will be better than 3
I bet the...
Bengals won’t even dress LJ. They already have three good backs in Benson, Scott and Leonard. He will be the 4th RB on the Roster only to be used if Benson is unavailable.
Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said Monday that free agent Larry Johnson will be inactive on game days if he signs with the club.
Lewis said the decision to bring L.J. in for a tryout has no bearing on Cedric Benson or Bernard Scott’s stance on the depth chart. Johnson would simply be an insurance policy as the Bengals’ No. 4 tailback. This is another good indication that the club still expects Benson (hip) to play in Week 11. Nov. 16 – 2:19 pm et
Source: Bengals on Twitter
So will we still have to pay him?
I know he had a “guaranteed” salary this season from us even after the cut, so does he get our pay PLUS the Bengals pay or will the Bengals contract nullify the contract with us?
yep
we still pay him plus cincy will pay him for the minimum he signs for, the only way we would have not had to pay him was if he was cliamed on waivers, which he wasnt
We will have to pay him
whatever Cincy doesn’t pay.
per NFL.com:
"It’s one of the things I told Larry. We’d judge him on his future and not his past," Lewis said when asked about Johnson’s off-field track record.
Where have I heard that before?
My long, drawn-out predictions that no one cares about, nor will bother to remember:
1. Todd Haley will still be the Chiefs Head Coach up to the 2011 season.
2. Clancy Pendergast won't make it to the 2010 season and was never intended to. Last-minute hire for a position that needed to be filled.
3. Todd Haley will not be the OC at the start of the 2010 season.
Marvin Lewis is the master of saying nothing but making it sound like something – He was just avoiding answering the question.
Marvin Lewis is also a family friend of LJ’s. He knows his dad and LJ’s grandfather used to be Marvin Lewis’s pastor, so even if Marvin thought he was a cancer he wouldn’t say it.
by Sheffieldbengal on Nov 16, 2009 2:41 PM CST up reply actions
Plus with Marvin being a family friend of LJ’s you can never rule out that they are doing it partially as a favour to check if there is a market for LJ’s services in other towns where they have lost a RB (Atlanta etc).
by Sheffieldbengal on Nov 16, 2009 2:44 PM CST up reply actions
luv lj being signed
he is kinda like benson…
so after some pract… see how the depth chart goes
and if he is hurt come in handy sooner
by kcstevesportsfan on Nov 16, 2009 4:30 PM CST up reply actions
on top of ALL the FANTASTIC reasons why 2.7 is a turd
"I’ve seen a big change in Jamaal here over the past three or four weeks," Haley said. "Really a big change in his overall personality, and everything. You can see him kind of growing into becoming a player."-Todd Haley on Jamaal Charles via Josh Looney’s Blog
That speaks volumes to me…right around when we move LJ off the team and suspend him, haley is saying charles’ attitude changed…that was a big issue for me, having LJ be some sort of role model to the other runners…SO GLAD that this is not the case.
Dead Horse
Why are we still talking about Larry Johnson?
Like any break up it’s time for arrowheadpride to move on.
I don’t post on this website much, just check in to see how my fellow crazys are doing, but man someone shoot me an email when we are done talking about this clown and where he’s going, what he’s doing, what he ate for dinner, which woman he is beating today.
Yeah, silly us.
Talking about where 2.7 is going. We’re crazy. It’s not like this isn’t relatively important news since the last month has been building up to this.
It's years like this that I wish I was a bear. Hibernation would make it so much easier.
by Red N Gold Beast on Nov 16, 2009 3:05 PM CST up reply actions
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