Or he did, sometimes older players try to do to much and even what they should be able to do well they simply no longer can. Less carries then Williams, no major leg injuries, the only time he missed due to injuries was a broken foot in 07. Makes sense, the rest is the usual stuff, "Les chiens aboient, la caravane passe"
and let me add to the list Albert I'll stomp on your face and have 130 community service hours Haynesworth.. Its not a waste if he can improve the roster at a position of need, which I think 3rd string running back is.
And albert Haynesworth is still better at his job than LJ is at his. I am fine with wanting a better 3rd RB, although I don;t think it was a huge need, but LJ is nothing to get excited over one way or another.
It seems as though the risk comes in the possibility that the fans will ***** and moan themselves into a frenzy before they've even seen the guy play, practice, or even work out. If we signed the guy this close to the start of the season then apparently he managed to pass a physical and avoid throwing up his lunch or smacking any women during his workout. So I'd rather wait until I see him play rather than knee jerking this as a bad move.
Again, speculating about something that may or may not happen is usually more exciting that discussing what is actually happening. Particularly in this case where the move really does not seem to make much logical sense.
so i'm interested in how he does on saturday i would not mind to let him play the entire 2nd half, lets see if he still can do it against 2nd teamers for starters, this guy is basically another ricky williams with not so much mileage on his body for his age, i like the signing more and more
That's the thing though, I don't think he improves the position. Patrick Cobbs was in no way a dynamic running back, but he was a Special Teams standout and did a lot of other things to help the team win. I don't see how LJ contributes enough to make him worth the roster spot, to be honest. Unless he suddently turns into a special teams maven, which I just don't see happening.
How would you know? You been practicing with LJ? If LJ is even half of what he used to be he'll help this team a lot.
Someone asked the question before so I thought I'd go ahead and post it. For those that are wondering if Larry Johnson was particularly good on the goal line, one scout's immediate reaction to the trade was to tell someone I know that the Dolphins must be having issues on the goal line because that was one of Larry's specialties in his prime. Take it FWIW.
I would not be surprised at all if he did AdamC, also heard we did give Portis a workout today (per Darlington). So LJ is in the same march or die situation as Sheets, best behavior and production or he is gone and Portis is signed. Difference between LJ and Portis is Clinton has a lot of miles on his wheels, and recent major leg injuries, he may have rehabbed them, maybe not, it is up to Johnson to keep us from finding out..ala 2008. Hmm, to get conspiratoral, Johnson was a Karl Peterson pick in KC, and Karl P gave him that large deal...
To me, that is the only motivation I could see in adding him, and the only place I could imagine he could bring value. I personally would have preferred LenDale White for that role... but we'll see what LJ looks like in that area.
If I can be so bold as to interrupt the talk on how signing Larry Johnson is completely indicative of this administrations lack of respect for the tight end position, I think it's worth discussing, you know, Johnson's actual merits. I don't think there is a good argument at all for Larry Johnson to be physically "done". He's over 30, but that's a death-knell more typical of a runningbacks who have carried a full workload their careers. Larry Johnson hasn't. He's got 1,426 career carries. Guys in his age range that have carried the workload for that long typically have way more. Clinton Portis has 2,230. LaDainian Tomlinson has more than double, 3,099. Maurice Jones-Drew and Adrian Peterson are going to almost certainly be hitting the amount of wear and tear Larry Johnson has at 26 years of age at the tail end of this season. Johnson's problem is that he's an immature *******. If he's no longer an immature *******, then there's a pretty good chance he could be a very good pickup and perform disproportionately his resources, which is the name of the game. I don't understand why people are acting like picking him up as a #3 runningback is a sign of desperation or a problem with Daniel Thomas.
The man had 5 carries last year, was cut and went unsigned for an entire season. With all the RB injuries he could not get a sniff. But yeah, if he's half what he used to be and Bush is double anything he's ever been than we're in good shape
Well, there is a scenario where Johnson can beat out Thomas to be our #2 running back once the season begins, or possibly beforehand. Not sure how I'd like that, but can easily see it happening if there is a real competition for the #2 slot in the final 2 games.
Assuming LJ can give us more than Sheets, its a win-win situation. Thomas might run harder knowing he has a seasoned Vet coming after his spot, we've added depth and insurance in case Thomas isn't ready or has fumbling issues, and LJ is more of a traditional power runner than any of our current guys. Not a sure thing at all, but worth the risk IMO. We can re-sign Sheets, or a guy just like him at any time if things don't work out.
So does Hilliard lose out or is he kept as the backup FB, Grisby the backup 4th string RB, Epps as the second TE, and Clay as the H-Back?
If Bush stays healthy, he'll surprise everyone. If LJ can perform too....hell, teams will hate to play us.
And if he can do it, that's excellent. We improved the roster at a bargain. Well done, front office and coaching staff. Acting like they've drafted a bust, and they know it, and they're suddenly scrambling for whatever and picked up Larry Johnson to try to make up at it doesn't really follow reality, though. There's no reason to believe that looking at Daniel Thomas, what he's done, and how the staff is reacting in relation to him. Maybe they're concerned he's not an effective short-yardage back, which if that's the case, eh. You'd wish a guy you drafted to be a starter would, but it's also very much a niche skill. There are guys like Sammy Morris, Lousaka Polite, etc. who are not great ball-handlers but are great short yardage guys. There are guys who are top notch rushers who aren't very good short-yardage backs.
I always remember the quote from the K-State fan in the stands when D. Thomas runs it in for a TD from the 5..."Dude, it's like automatic." [video=youtube;rxTtIN5JXg8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxTtIN5JXg8[/video] Tony might be more concerned for Thomas' propensity to fumble.
History: Phil Jackson did this all the time on his championship basketball squads. He signed a vet who was way past his prime who never ended up contributing on the floor, and he expected this person to set a tone with his team, like a coach amongst the players. Phil Jackson himself fulfilled this role on a championship Knicks team, which got him into coaching. Today: The Dolphins are a young team who have had flaky leadership at best, with Ricky Williams and Channing Crowder as the elder statesmen. Tony and Jeff are trying to add some knowledge and attitude to the squad, in addition to someone who can hopefully provide spot duty. Notice they worked out three older guys: Johnson, Portis, and Tiki Barber. This does not signify that Daniel Thomas is a failure (or a success). They are using bottom third roster spots to tinker with the team's chemistry.
I was the same Van. I'm pretty sure I said very little if any chance we can resign Tony. As for Richie, I was surprised too that PFF thought so well of him. I like him though. He is strong and feisty, though can control his emotions much better now. Also he resembles Chris Farley in the face, and that goes a long ways with me. I loved Chris Farley.
who's excited?, Iam about improving the roster from top to bottom, his competition was kory sheets and lex hiiliard..Its not a big deal at all..Doesn't keep people from still taking jabs at a staff thats trying to improve depth at the third level..lol
Larry Johnson > Kory Sheets. Its that simple, no more needs to be read into it. We seen an opportunity to upgrade the team and we did it. I'm not sure how anybody can feel thats a horrible decision.
I still don't see him on the opening day roster. Just a chance to see if a vet has anything left in the tank before the 1000+ cutdown day when surely we will be active in adding parts to the bottom end of the roster.
what people fail to realize is the habitual prejudging and mocking of your teams staff without seeing, or projecting correctly in the long run, only helps the perception that your franchise is in disarray and a joke in the present...
don't believe the franchise is in total disarray looks like the best roster we've put together in decades if Sparano fixes the offensive line & Henne manages the game we have a serious possibility of post season in 2011 it all looks good to me
Is there some kind of inordinate risk that comes with Larry? He doesn't fumble. He doesn't have the wear and tear. He ran the same plays in KC. He's D. Thomas' idol. We haven't committed to anything, yet. Let him play, WTF?
Because he's continually sharing a load with Reggie Bush, he's continually running with the starters with a coaching staff that is very meritocratic with rookies, and we saw him perform pretty well the other night. Better, when you consider he struggled in a pretty specific niche, and was averaging 5 yards a carry outside of that.
they obviously are on to something on the surface it would appear very little advantage to be gained scrapping Williams & Brown for L.J. they had to have good reasons, we'll just have to wait & see
