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RB Larry Johnson, Kansas City Chiefs

HT: 6-1, WT: 228, Born: 11-19-1979, College: Penn State, Drafted: Round 1, Pick 27

2008 Projections

2007 Game Summaries

Week 1 - Johnson showed no ill effects from his extended holdout which saw him miss all of training camp. He was obviously under utilized as Coach Edwards eased him back in. While only carrying ten times, he was targeted in the passing game more than in past years, catching seven of the eight passes thrown his way. Johnson should see a lot more action in upcoming games as the fortunes of the Chiefs will depend on his performance during those games. He finished with 87 yards from scrimmage on 17 touches. He should be depended on for greater totals in most games this year.

Week 2 - Johnson had very little room to run against the stout Bear defense. The majority of Johnson's runs were in the range of two to four yards as Kansas City was unable to establish any type of rushing offense throughout the game. Johnson's long runs of the game came on draw plays out of the shotgun against a soft Bear defense. He did miss some time in the fourth quarter while the trainers looked at his thigh, but came back in the game and did not show any ill effects of an injury.

Week 3 - Johnson had little luck finding any room to run all day. The Chiefs did stay with the running game for the entire afternoon, which was the only reason Johnson was able to manage the 42 yards on the ground he did. His longest run of the day, 28 yards, was called back on a holding penalty. His longest run that counted was nine yards. There was not much room for him to work with all day, but he did show power on several plays, dragging tacklers and making positive yards.

Week 4 - Johnson struggled along with the rest of the Chiefs in the first half, but came on a bit more as the game went on. As the final minutes were ticking off the clock, Johnson had compiled 86 yards on 24 carries (an unspectacular 3.6 YPC). But his final burst of the afternoon was a 37 yard gallop up the left side that put him over 100 yards on the ground for the first time all season long. At the end of the day, a 123 yard performance looks a whole lot better than an 86 yard performance, even if the difference is just one isolated play in garbage time. Some of the concerns with Johnson are still present, of course. For example, he was twice stuffed inside the five yard line trying to score (one of those coming from the two yard line). But there were enough positives to take from the way Johnson ran to suggest his fantasy prospects are still very much alive.

Week 5 - Johnson was unable to get into a rhythm, in large part due to a very aggressive Jaguars' run defense. He did not have many plays where he gained positive yardage, even when Kansas City tried to get him involved on screen plays. He was stymied by a very good defense that was focused on limiting his impact.

Week 6 - Johnson had his breakout fantasy day all Larry Johnson owners were waiting for. He should have had another touchdown but he fumbled on the two yard line on a long run he broke open when he got hit from behind. He had trouble closing out the game against the Cincinnati defense, failing to end the game by getting a couple of running first downs.

Week 7 - Johnson continues his way back from a poor showing early in the season. He again had a slow start, but picked it up as the contest wore on. He finished with 112 yards on the ground on 24 carries, scoring one touchdown. He caught six short passes and he even got to throw one option pass which went high and wide past the receiver in the end zone.

Week 9 - The workhorse of the Chiefs offense is Larry Johnson. Johnson was the main focus of the offense before leaving with an ankle injury with eight minutes left in the game. Rushing yards were hard to come by as the Chiefs linemen were not able to open up any decent running lanes. He found little room to run as he was met in the backfield by Packers defenders before he could get a head of steam on most rushing plays. His final stats look good thanks to his two touchdowns, the first of which was set up by a Packers pass interference penalty in the end zone late in the first half.

Week 11 - Did not play due to injury.