Larry Johnson Cut by Kansas City Chiefs May Make Cincinnati Bangles Debut This Sunday

Kansas City Chiefs cut Larry Johnson who signed with the Cincinnati Bangles and is anticipated to start this Sunday for the Bangles injured running back Cedric Benson. The Cincinnati Enquirer reports:
"Cedric Benson to be gametime decision for Bangles" by Joe Reedy, Cincinnati Enquirer. Cedric Benson is currently listed as doubtful but no official decision is expected to be made until game time. What should Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bangles fans expect from the subtraction and addition of Larry Johnson? Here are the on the field details of the Larry Johnson situation.

Larry Johnson had a very successful college career at Penn state where he won the Maxwell award (given to the nation's best all around player) and the Doak Walker award as the nation's top running back and was a Heisman Trophy finalist. After his senior year of college Larry Johnson entered the NFL Draft where he was drafted 27th overall by the Kansas City Chiefs. For many Larry Johnson was a puzzling pick for the Chiefs to make since at the time they had Priest Holmes who was considered the best back in the league but at pick 27 Larry Johnson was too big of a value for Kansas City to pass up.

Being drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs Larry Johnson has had one of the greatest non injury related flash in the pan careers in NFL history. After the Kansas City Chief's starting running back Priest Holmes went down to injury Larry Johnson got his chance to prove himself. In only half a season Larry Johnson rushed over 1700 yards, a mark that takes the best players an entire season to reach. In all fairness in that limited season Larry Johnson did have a full season worth of carries, which should acknowledge the degree that the Chiefs relied on him to carry them during that season. The following season the Chiefs ran Larry Johnson an NFL record of 416 times. Immediately he was being compared to the great Jim Brown. The question is, did the Kansas City Chiefs run their main horse into the ground or is Larry Johnson's decline due to the inability of the Chiefs offensive line to give him space to run?

The Kansas City Chiefs' offensive line has gone from the best in the league (during this time Larry Johnson's rushing numbers were very good) to being one of the worst offensive lines in the league (where his rushing numbers have suffered) so it's tough to know what kind of running back Larry Johnson truly is. Is he done with or does he require a better line to excel? Here's something to consider. With the same offensive line Larry Johnson's back up Jamaal Charles has performed much better than Larry Johnson averaging 5.4 yards per carry while Larry Johnson had a league low (amongst running backs) of 2.9 yards per carry. During his best days Larry Johnson has shown that he is a big power back who is incredibly hard to tackle after picking up some speed. If Larry Johnson has anything left and the Cincinnati Bangles offensive line can create enough space for him to pick up a head of steam, then this will be a huge mid season gift for the Cincinnati Bangles and their fans.

The Cincinnati Bangles have had some character issues in the past so picking up Larry Johnson seems to be a puzzling move but business wise this is a no brainer. The Kansas City Chiefs are still obligated to pay Larry Johnson so the Bangles were able to sign Larry Johnson for a prorated league minimum lasting only until the rest of the season. Any time you have a chance to get a player with such possible potential, for minimum pay, and especially after the trade deadline that's a deal you have to make. That's all without mentioning that the timing of it all where the Bangels' running back Cedric Benson is out with an injury and Larry Johnson falls out of the sky. If it doesn't work out the Bangles can simply cut Johnson and be no worse for the ware than they were before.

On the other side of this story, Kansas City Chiefs fans will be looking for some answers themselves as last week against the Oakland Raiders Jamaal Charles showed some promise running for over 100 yards and averaging 5.7 yards per carry. With Larry Johnson running and only averaging 53.9 yards per game the Chiefs have become one dimensional and Jamaal Charles has shown last week that he can be the extra threat the Chiefs have been missing. It's hard to gather much from any one performance, especially when it comes against the Raiders, but Jamaal Charles's season average for yards per carry has been 5.4 and gives legitimacy for Kansas City Chiefs' hope. This is a very interesting situation where both the addition and subtraction of the same player could actually be a positive for both the departing and receiving teams. If Jamaal Charles can keep his numbers where they are as a starter we could possibly see a huge turn around for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Source: Cedric Benson to be gametime decision for Bangles http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20091120/SPT02/311200086/ Joe Reedy, Cincinnati Enquirer.