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RB Rudi Johnson, Cincinnati Bengals

HT: 5-9, WT: 230, Born: 10-1-1979, College: Auburn, Drafted: Round 4

2008 Projections

2007 Game Summaries

Week 1 - Johnson was bottled up by the stout Ravens defense for most of the game and was limited to one yard or less on ten of his eighteen carries. He was fairly active in the passing game, catching three of four balls sent his way (he was targeted two other times on plays that were negated by penalties). Johnson had two red zone carries and the two point conversion run. On the down side, he coughed up the ball late in the fourth quarter when all the Bengals had to do was not fumble, providing the Ravens an opportunity to tie the game. Johnson's mediocre stat line was fairly predictable given the opposition, but his owners can take heart because he is so the man in this offense and will definitely have better days against lesser competition.

Week 2 - Johnson managed to wrack up 118 yards rushing but a large 20 yard run was effectively negated when he lost a fumble. He did manage to score one touchdown on a 13 yard swing pass from Carson Palmer early in the game. Despite this receiving touchdown, Johnson was largely a safety outlet in the passing game, catching his three other passes, late in the game when Palmer had nowhere else to go with the ball.

Week 3 - The lack of success on the ground appeared at first to be a case of the defense dominating the line of scrimmage. Johnson had one big play, on a screen pass, but otherwise was not effective at all. He left the game in the third quarter with a hamstring injury. Replacement Kenny Watson quickly put up 60 yards on nine carries. No word on the severity of the injury.

Week 4 - Johnson did not play in the game because of a hamstring injury. It is the first time in 64 games that he has not suited up.

Week 6 - Johnson played the second and third series of the game, and then did not play much after that. He looked timid while he was in, only gaining eight yards on four carries.

Week 9 - Johnson was featured as the between the tackles running back, but had a tough time running the ball against the Bills. He may have scored a touchdown on a run up the gut that was spotted at the one, when another official signaled it a touchdown. He was in for the next play, but Jeremi Johnson ended up catching the touchdown pass.

Week 10 - Johnson, an injury list mainstay this season, tallied 48 all purpose yards on 22 carries and two receptions. After only four touches in the first half, Johnson saw the majority of his work in the second half.

Week 11 - Johnson rushed mainly between the tackles, but was noticeably on the sidelines when the Bengals had to abandon the running game in favor of playing catch up.

Week 12 - Rudi Johnson was used sparingly in the first half as the Bengals built their lead. He had plenty of room to run, and showed good patience by selecting the proper hole to run through. The Bengals plan was to spell him in the first three quarters to keep him fresh for the end of the game. Johnson seemed to respond well to that plan as he seemed to get stronger as the game wore on and was in the game when they ran out the clock.

Week 13 - Four of Johnson's 14 rushes came on Cincinnati's first drive when he rushed for 10 yards. Despite only averaging 2.5 yard on that first series, he did cap the drive with his second rushing touchdown of the year. Johnson's long run of the night was four yards and he received zero looks in the passing game.

Week 14 - Rudi Johnson was effective all day. He was the Bengals workhorse, mostly running between the tackles while the end runs went to Watson and Dorsey.

Week 15 - Johnson spent most of the first half splitting carries with RB Kenny Watson and RB DeDe Dorsey and did get a lot of touches. He only had five carries for 12 yards and one catch for eight yards in the first half. He only had two carries for four yards in the second half as teammate Watson got more playing time in the half. Cincinnati never really got the rushing game going as San Francisco did not allow a run longer then nine yards in the game.

Week 17 - Johnson missed a second consecutive game because of his ailing hamstring. It is the fifth game he has missed this season, and it would be a bit of an understatement to say it has been a disappointing season for Johnson. Kenny Watson saw most of the workload in his absence.