Originally Posted by
chief31
I'm not trying to shoot anyone down.
I just don't understand how anyone can compare the two LJs.
We say that he isn't "Hitting the holes" the same.
What holes?
There were holes in '05. And he was certainly hitting them very well.
But I haven't seen a rushing lane since '06.
We say "He's not as quick".
Well, it is a really bad idea to slam into your O-linemans' backs "quick".
We say "He isn't giving the same effort".
Sure he is. I see him giving a half-assed effort, at least. That's all he did in '05. Anytime a run was called to the outside, he would just drop his arms to his side, similar to a child pouting about having to do a chore, and just "stomp" his way out of bounds.
Hell he gives alot more effort these day, it seems.
We say "He just doesn't run as fast anymore".
I never get to see him run. I get to see him stutter-step, looking for a hole. But never gets to run.
In '05, he got to play with Roaf, Shields and T-Rich plowing paths for him, in a Vermeil proven system. And he got mad stats, in just over half a season.
In '06, he lost Roaf and T-Rich, as well as alot of the constructs of the Vermeil offense. He got some good numbers. But had to play all season, and get more chances to pad those stats than any other RB has gotten in a season to do it.
Since then... basically nothing. Not disgustingly bad in '08, but most of that came from a 3rd down back kind of situation, with that spread offense.
And he has no Roaf, no Shields, no T-Rich, No Weigmann and not so much as a shadow of the Vermiel offense that helped Marshall Faulk and Priest Holmes become Fantasy Football gods.
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Now, as most of those on the "LJ Bandwagon" can tell you, I am far from a Larry Johnson supporter.
I didn't want him from the beginning. Since the moment Dick Vermiel said that that wasn't his pick, to the diapers comment, to the holdout for big money, to the racial remarks on ESPN, to all of the pouting, to the jealous 'rap' about Priest holmes, to the multiple problems he has had with women, to the dwindling numbers over the past three seasons.
But If Roaf, Shields, T-Rich, and that Vermiel system were here now, I would bet heavily on he Chiefs to beat the Giants, beat he Plowboys, beat everyone, and for LJ to put up massive numbers.
It isn't that LJ has lost a step. It's that he has lost of the people who made him shine so brightly.
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