Why Running Back Remains Chiefs Greatest Need
by Matt Conner on Nov 5, 2009 10:30 AM CST
in 2009 Kansas City Chiefs Campaign
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Print"Signs, signs, everywhere there's signs," goes the old Tesla tune and around these parts, they all read "Help Needed." The Chiefs roster plays like a billiards table with holes in every corner. And the wisdom of the ages would tell us to address some core needs first: pass rusher, offensive line and perhaps even wide receiver. But while some might point to running back now that Larry Johnson did his thing, I'd like to point out that perhaps that's our biggest need all along.
I would never say that our offensive line is set. In fact, my personal hope is that two of our first three draft choices directly address the line. But with that other draft choice (seeing as how we have three choices in the first two rounds), my hope is for the Chiefs to address the need for a top flight back.
There's a lot of evidence to support this, but let's start with the most damning:
The Chiefs are the only team in the NFL to not have a single rushing touchdown in 2009.
More after the jump:
How does this happen? How does a team with the running tradition of the Chiefs fail to put one through on the ground? How does a team with a supposed star back like LJ (think of your opinions before the season) not even get one score? What about a promising youngster like Jamaal Charles?
This list is anemic. The other teams that low on the rushing TDs list: St. Louis Rams, Seattle Seahawks, Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns, Washington Redskins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Including the Chiefs, then, the overall won-loss record for the seven worst rushing teams in football are 10-42. Ten and forty-two.
Sometimes it's the line that makes the back and certainly that's been proven before, especially in Denver where, for a while, it seemed my own grandmother could rush for 100 yards/game. But most of the time, a team needs the breakout star in the backfield who's a threat to take it through the hole each and every time. And, let's face it, the Chiefs don't have a single player on their roster who can account for that kind of threat.
Think of it this way: Todd Haley, his coaching staff and the front office have taken the first several months of training camp, the pre-season and regular season to figure out what we have on this team. If they had the answer on this team, they would have started to use it. If Charles were the Messiah, then you think he wouldn't out there taking carries from Larry Johnson. Remember, just a few days ago, we disclosed the stats that show LJ is currently enjoying the single worst season by a starting running back in NFL history. No single RB in league history has averaged a total so low as 2.7 yards so far into a season.
Unless Haley's the worst coach in the NFL and is willing to keep throwing LJ out there no matter what he does, you have to assume they ride Johnson out because the in-house options really aren't the answer either. As much as we hate losing, how much more the coaches and players involved? So if Charles was the regular workhorse, we'd know by now, plain and simple.
The reality is that grabbing the next great running back is key for the Chiefs. It not only develops a much-needed option for Matt Cassel on-the-field, but helps to reestablish the Chiefs legacy that includes former running champions like Christian Okoye, Marcus Allen, Priest Holmes, Ed Podolak, Mike Garrett and company. The teams without a legitimate runner are the teams occupying the basement positions in both conferences.
So while it's not the only thing that needs fixed, it becomes one of the first things. And if we can fix a couple key spots on the line while grabbing our next great back, the Chiefs will look much better headed into 2010.
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Gotta be more about OL than the RBs...
If the past few years have taught us anything in the NFL in general it is that RBs are a dime a dozen…and the line is where it all matters…
Don't forget to be an AP-vangelist...Tell A Friend...
woodman is correct
below average O-line play the last few years has really hurt. Defenses know this and totally take away the run first, which they are also able to do because they dont respect our passing game. Lack of ability to spread the defense out with a burner at WR, lack of ability to dominate up front = not much offense. Gotta grab a dominant O-lineman somehow…
You did not...
just start this post with a Tesla song.
Welcome to Chiefs REBUILD - Version 2.0 /The Clark Hunt Edition
Chiefs will be lucky to go 4-12 in 2010
by KansasCityShuffle on Nov 5, 2009 10:41 AM CST reply actions
Wait, that came out wrong
“and that’s your bull..” No wait…
This isn't a "kum-bye-yah" campfire! THIS IS FOOTBALL!
Something Something Something
Larry Johnsons twitter.
GENIUS!
This isn't a "kum-bye-yah" campfire! THIS IS FOOTBALL!
well the song is really by the five man electrical band
tesla just covered it =)
Never kick a fresh turd on a hot day.
Harry S. Truman
Thanks for
showing the truth to these young whipper-snappers again kcguy! Five man electrical band performed it 20 years before & 100 times better! IMHO
Time to show my age
The song was originally done by “5 man electrical band” I think back in ’72
is it me? or isn't about time the Lamar Hunt trophy belonged to His team?
I’m a Chiefs fan Dammit and I’m damn proud of it!
Matt, it's a well reasoned argument, but...
Haley says that RB is a position of great depth. Not necessarily great strength, but great depth. Could be that they all equally stink, but I’m more inclined to think that it’s an OL problem. I would rate RB as probably the 5th biggest need area, after OL, LB, WR and Safety. Great argument, though. Wrecked.
"No single RB in league history has averaged a total so low as 2.7 yards so far into a season. "
Ahem, I present to you…
Edgerrin James
Albeit on 46 attempts.
This isn't a "kum-bye-yah" campfire! THIS IS FOOTBALL!
It works for me
because his ass got CUT for being so terrible on LESS carries than LJ. WTF is LJ still doing here?
This isn't a "kum-bye-yah" campfire! THIS IS FOOTBALL!
Don't be so fast to put down Charles
There could be many reasons he hasn’t played.
1. He is in the proverbial “dog house” for too many fumbles in practice and games.
2. We have LJ, while not great, is making a ton of money and at the beginning of the season at least kept the defense honest. I would say this reason has run its course however and if LJ continues to start this reason should be disregarded. He has just been too terrible.
3. He isn’t an every down back in the coaches opinion. Is this true? How do we know? Sure hes young, small, and fast. The small and fast should keep him from getting hit as much as a power back. Deserves a try in my opinion.
In his Jr. year at Texas he rushed 258 times which was the most of his career. That is over 20 carries a game. While its not a resounding 30, I think its close enough to every down back to give him 15-20 carries and see what happens.
This weeks game should tell us a lot about our RB situation.
Overall I think addressing the offensive line will improve the running game dramatically. I think we can address the running game with free agency or trades if we absolutely need to at some point.
But point me out a team on your list with even a decent offensive line. On the other hand there are a couple decent RBs on those teams (historically).
and in the Haley offense
traditionally 15-20 carries is enough. As long as you can catch screens and swing plays and Charles fits that bill ok anyways and did it plenty for Texas.
Chris Johnson - 5'11" 200lbs
Jamaal Charles – 5’11" 199 lbs.
Worth a shot, no? I mean, Chris Johnson does have that “run from the cops” speed.
This isn't a "kum-bye-yah" campfire! THIS IS FOOTBALL!
Maybe practice
but games..hes only had 1 fumble this year, last i knew on 75 total touches (KR and Rushing/Receiving). LJ has 2 fumbles on 144 touches. If Charles stays at the same rate as LJ, he’ll also have 2 fumbles on 150 touches.
To start the season, because of his trouble in PRE season..i was worried everytime he touched the ball. But now? I still think about it..but his next fumble will only be his 2nd fumble..its going to happen sooner or later. I actually hoped it would come vs. the chargers when we were getting stomped..get it out of the way.
But I do agree with most of what you said. I think its funny that people are still saying we need a better RB when its clear that OL is more important. Remember Marshawn Lynch? The RB whos put up 1000 yards on a 4 yard average in each of his 1st 2 seasons, 1 of them only being 13 games? Yeah, that guys OL has been completely destroyed before the season started. He missed the first 3 games and now hes only averaging 3.1ypc. Now, some people will say look at Fred Jackson, the guy whos been taking most of the load due to Lynch’s suspension. He’s averaging 4.0 ypc. BUT, he had 28 carries, 163 yards against TAMPA BAY. Since then, his only 4.0ypc game was against Miami where he had 9 carries for 42 yards. Take away the TB game and he’s only averaging 3.3 ypc.
You can do the same for every single team in the league with a bad OL. You CANNOT succeed as a RB without an OL. As a QB, you CANNOT succeed without an OL. In some cases, a QB can succeed without a RB, but the majority of the time, the QB NEEDS a RB to take off the pressure. The defense NEEDS a strong OL to keep them off the damn field and let them get some rest. Its not rocket science. The OL affects EVERYTHING and because of that fact, it is the first thing that needs to be upgraded.
Actually people...Tesla is not the writer of that song.
In 1971 the Five Man Electrical Band released the original “signs” song that we all know as a Tesla song today.
Tesla 10 July 1856 – 7 January 1943, he is considered one of the greatest scientific minds ever. Especially concerning his work with electricity.
So we don’t need running backs Matt. We need Tesla to reunite and do a tribute tour, and hopefully none of them die by electric shock cuz…..that would be weird.
It is, was and always will be a Tesla song
“All Along the Watchtower” is a Jimi Hendrix song
“High Ground” is a Chili Peppers song
Period.
This is my signature line. It is full of awesome and win.
by KCSatchmo on Nov 5, 2009 11:08 AM CST up reply actions
Higher* Ground
dammit
This is my signature line. It is full of awesome and win.
by KCSatchmo on Nov 5, 2009 11:13 AM CST up reply actions
Just to plug a site that I EFFING LOVE
An excerpt from Bad Ass of the Week [dot] com:
Nikola Tesla
Another sweet thing about Tesla is that he conducted the sort of crazy experiments that generally result in hordes of angry villages breaking down the door to your lab with torches and pitchforks. One time, while he was working on magnetic resonance, he discovered the resonant frequency of the Earth and caused a fucking earthquake so powerful that it almost obliterated the 5th Avenue New York building that housed his Frankenstein Castle of a laboratory. Shit was flying off the walls, the drywall was breaking apart, the cops were coming after him, and Tesla had to smash his device with a sledge hammer to keep it from demolishing an entire city block. Later, he boasted that he could have built a device powerful enough to split the Earth in two. Nobody dared him to prove it.
This isn't a "kum-bye-yah" campfire! THIS IS FOOTBALL!
This Is the Best Post Yet
I was actually interested in this post, the rest of the drivel today is boring.
by Ryan in Nixa on Nov 5, 2009 11:21 AM CST up reply actions
click the tesla link
and see what else BAotW has to offer.
It’s a great site. The guy just released a book, and does blog entries now for a bookstore about badass authors. He’s now the worlds foremost expert on badassitude.
Great stuff :)
This isn't a "kum-bye-yah" campfire! THIS IS FOOTBALL!
Excerpt about Bear Grylls from BAotW.com
Bear Grylls:
Two things strike me as being totally balls-out about Bear Grylls. First off, the man will eat fucking anything. He’ll bite the heads off of live rodents and insects, he’ll chow down on crazy shit like pirahnas, tarantualas and rusty thumbtacks… fuck, the dude once drank an entire water bottle filled with his own piss in an effort to stay hydrated in the middle of the goddamned Australian Outback. It doesn’t get more hardcore than shotgunning your own urine. It’s like the Holy Grail of Survivalism – you either have the nuts to do it or you die an excruciatingly painful death by dehydration. Secondly, the dude has a climbing ability the likes of which make The Amazing Spider-Man look like the fucking last kid up the rope in gym class. He’ll be standing there looking at a cliff face that better resembles a pane of sheet glass than it does a rock wall, and he’ll just be like, “no problem, I’ll just climb up this fucking wall and get out of the canyon”, and shimmy up the wall with about as much difficulty as it takes a regular person to tie their shoes. It’s so awesome that it borders on retarded.
This isn't a "kum-bye-yah" campfire! THIS IS FOOTBALL!
Interesting take on things.....
I do agree that we will definitely need to get a high caliber RB in here to help take some of the pressure off Cassel. But based on the other holes on the team that other high pick should be used on another position.
I’m thinking this…….if I had to choose a position as a stopgap right now I’d rather it be RB as opposed to OL or S. The mediocre line is not only getting our shiny new QB a mud facial or 5 every week, but they aren’t sufficient enough as a unit to help anyone rush for 100 yards on a consistent basis. The safeties might be decent at tackling but they are terrible in coverage and every mistake is six more points for the other team.
High pick at OL = more time for Cassel + (mid-round/FA) RB having solid production
High pick at S = less mistakes in coverage leading to long completions and TDs
High pick at RB = slightly better run game, but not enough to counteract OL/S play
So maybe let’s get a RB in the later rounds or free agency and that might do until we find another Priest, Christian, etc.
Good post…
RB a need??
You know, I don’t like Larry Johnson much anymore BUT the fact IS that he is not ABLE to run or get many yards BECAUSE of the Offensive line!!
Look at Denver (God forgive me for my blasphemy!) !
They have a really good offense this year BECAUSE their Offensive line is really working well!! Now we know that Kyle Orton wasn’t suppose to be THAT good but see what a good or DECENT offensive line can do to a guy!! Imagine if we had that type of line!!??
Im pretty sure...
that Roaf ran his 40 sideways at the combine…
If we had kept Weigman,
we have at least 1/5th of it now.
Why was he let go?
I forget…was CP just not interested in resigning him, or was he not interested in staying in KC?
Herm wanted a bigger center for power running.
He felt Weigman was too small.
I remember Dawson to Taylor, Kenney to Carson, and Blackledge catching the snap in his facemask. Seen it all...
anybody see a trend here???
Weigman,Tait,Jared allen,….all these guys were either rubbed the wrong way by CP or he tried to lowball them on contracts…..Im sure there are other names to add to this list but they escape me now. People keep pointing the finger at Haley and pioli for this yrs teams success….they just inherited CPs tight ass efforts to build a team.
Kawika Mitchell..
he did get a Superbowl ring for being allowed to leave.
Interesting point..
I don’t know where to start since we’re so bad in so many places. I just wish we could have Marcus or Okoye back—at least with Okoye it didn’t matter about the line, since he himself was an OT that could run a 4.5 40. Anyone getting in his way was getting a concussion….oh the days…
Good write-up
It is sad to see our running game so bad, we have had some very good backs over the years. But to go along with all the good running teams the Chiefs have had through the years what else have they had? A good FB. One of the worse moves of the Herm years was to let T-Rich walk without a replacement. The Chiefs have always had a great FB the almost 20 years i have been a fan, until now.
Chiefs set an NFL record,most roster changes in 1 season.
by bringbacktheglory on Nov 5, 2009 10:59 AM CST reply actions
Our team is screwed until
We get consistent blocks on the line. It’s wrecking the entire team cause the offense can’t do anything which causes the defense to look like crap from being on the field too much. I would be fine with going as far as spending our top two draft choices on OL. It’s that big of a need.
You are mistaking a need for a running back for a need for a running game
I agree that we will probably need to draft a running back either this year or next year, but that is not the problem. All of these ‘negative’ plays Haley keeps talking about occur because LJ cant get to the line of scrimmage without being tackled. Clearly, we need a better O-Line, and the better running game will follow
And IMO, we may want to ignore a RB this year all together. As proved around the league, a RB can produce the first year he is drafted. If our goal is the playoffs in 2011, we can wait til the 2011 draft to get a top-tier RB prospect.
In 2010, we should gather players in positions that need a year or two to develop, and an OLine to protect our QB asset we already have.
"In 2010, we should gather players in positions that need a year or two to develop"
ie – defense.
This isn't a "kum-bye-yah" campfire! THIS IS FOOTBALL!
LJ can't break a tackle to save his life Boots...even when he has an opening..
he falls down like a girl.
I'm surprised that all of this discussion hasn't had any criticism
of the playcalling.
Honestly, I know our line isn’t very good, but I think the biggest factor in our failure to run the ball with success is the playcalling we have in the running game. I like Haley, and for all of his strengths, I think his biggest and most glaring fault is his poor run playcalling. We have run a lot out of the shotgun and a lot up the middle. Neither have we had much success with. The one type of running play that we seem to have done well on is off-tackle, but Haley calls maybe three of those a game. If we were actually running of our tackes (the strength of our O-line is the tackle position, not because its a strength perse, but because the interior line is really weak), we might actually have near-respectable numbers.
For justice we must go to Don Pioli
The play calling is suspect
However, if you’re playing a team and they come crashing through the line every play and you’re completely overmatched, then it really doesn’t matter what the play call is.
nothing is stopping LJ from trying to create something...
the guy never makes cuts, never finds holes, never tries…
Playcalling could be some of it but LJ still needs to create even when the line is terrible, especially when the line is terrible.
IF there's a good OG & C available in free agency
I would prefer to go that route in addressing the OL for the immediate future, and use the early draft picks on skill position players. With all the juniors expected to come out this year, the 2nd round will have a lot of first round talent, and considering that we’ll also have a high 3rd round pick we may be able to pick up the equivalent of four top-40 players in a ‘normal draft’ year. It’s a great opportunity to add some needed impact talent to the roster.
That said, if we can’t get solid linemen through FA, by all means take ’em early in the draft.
FA will be the wildcard
who knows whats available and at what price…If we can get decent players that Pioli can sell in getting here then great. It will be interesting if we can lure top tier FA’s with our lousy record. The good selling point is that they are getting in on the ground floor. There’s no place but up.
It is much easier to find OL in FA than a good RB.
Running backs in FA are usually used up or close to it. There should be a few quality OL available. Unfortunately, this isn’t a particularly deep draft at RB, so wanting to draft one may have to wait a year just because of availability.
I remember Dawson to Taylor, Kenney to Carson, and Blackledge catching the snap in his facemask. Seen it all...
MATT!!!!...just out of curiosity...
Who do you like for us to get as a running back next year…because RB is one of the biggest needs we have your correct. A good running game would go a long way to helping our passing game out.
I’m wondering what you think about next year’s opportunities and would you draft a RB or would trade for one and if so who????
well written post, wrecked
I dont’ agree that RB is the #1 need… I’m still hopeful that Charles and Smith will show enough this week to keep LJ on the inactive list
I’m also hopeful that Javarris Williams is preparing to be the RB of the Future…
But, I do agree that a dynamic RB would certainly help the team… along with a dynamic S, and some top talent at C and G….
However, that RB should be a receiving/multi-purpose back, not an LJ-type bruiser. A guy that can protect in the passing game, and provide a very reliable check down receiving option, and break some tackles in the open field.
* "I doubt anyone will miss Connor Barth except UCrawford"
* the LB corps may become the biggest strength of the Chiefs in 2009
* The OL is NOT as bad as you think it is... give it time, and you'll see improvement this season
3rd down back?
Yeah, we need one of them. Biggest need is someone(s) that can stretch the field. Right now, opposition’s D can crowd the line and Chiefs lack player to make them pay.
every down back
Matt Forte, Steve Slaton, LT (a couple years ago), Westbrook (a couple years ago), MJD
That’s what I’m talking about… someone who can run and catch, and make people miss…
NOT LJ… or another “bruiser”… I don’t think this offense is built for it
* "I doubt anyone will miss Connor Barth except UCrawford"
* the LB corps may become the biggest strength of the Chiefs in 2009
* The OL is NOT as bad as you think it is... give it time, and you'll see improvement this season
This is why I hope LJ doesn’t play anymore this year. He will not be here when we are a playoff team anyways. Need to see what we got with Charles and Smith,even without a decent line.
by kc2win on Nov 5, 2009 2:12 PM CST via mobile reply actions
I think there have been too many examples
Of running backs being pretty interchangable/expendable to say that running back is our greatest need. Of course if you get an opportunity to draft a barry sanders you take it, but there are too many late round picks and generally average backs that have had a lot of success.
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