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Larry Johnson will NOT be MVP this year


PCRoughrider

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In case you all missed it, one of the "two-a-day" teams for today's ESPN draft special was the Chiefs. Early in the segment, they mentioned that Al Saunders had left the Chiefs and went to the Redskins. After that, they never mentioned him again.

Bob Golic and Sean Salisbury proceeded to gush over the Chiefs offense and, specifically, Larry Johnson. In the "fact or fiction" section, they both said the Chiefs would win the AFC West. Sean Salisbury said that Larry Johnson would be MVP.

They failed to mention that Al Saunders was the primary reason why the Chiefs offense was so, consistently, good. Al Saunders' offense and his play calling was the reason Larry Johnson had 1700 yards while starting only 9 games. The Chiefs wide recievers were less than ordinary and despite that, they still had one of the top offenses in the league. It was Al Saunders who "hid" his weak receivers and they're going to miss that, a lot.

I was watching and waiting for them to mention the impact of losing Al Saunders and all we got was more gushing about the offense, as if any offensive coordinator could do what Al Saunders has done, over and over again.

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Are you trying to say that CP will have 3000 yards rushing...? I dont really get the point of this thread... :(

The point of this thread is that Larry Johnson will not win MVP. Larry Johnson will not rush for 2000 yards. Larry Johnson will probably have a good season but not a great one because Al Saunders isn't calling the plays any more.

The point is this thread is that the success of the Chiefs offense was, significantly, Al Saunders.

For those who don't understand the importance of losing someone like Al Saunders, I'll mention two words "Rod Dowhower".

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Just because Saunders left KC doesnt mean that he took every stitch of knowledge from the brains of his former assistants and then magically set all the playbooks on fire as he rode off into the eastern sunrise..

Please, take the BnG glasses off for a second. KC will still have a very potent offense because they will still run a variation of the offense that they have ran for the last several years under Saunders.

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I'm under the belief that Clinton Portis is going to be MVP in 2006/7.

If we can keep him healthy. He was a shell of himself in the playoffs last yr and it killed us.

LJ will be my first back taken in my fantasy league next yr -- even though Preist restructured his deal it won't matter. That is officially 27s team now and (as long as he doesnt beat up any more females) he will gain over 1700 yds

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I believe they promoted an assistant who has worked under/with Saunders over the last couple years to take over at Offensive Coordinator. Do you really think Al Saunders is so valuable that no one else in the world can come close to duplicating the play calls he made? Also the man they promoted (Solari) was the OL coach responsible for some of those blocking schemes that allowed LJ and Priest to run for so many yards over the last few years. The offense may miss a beat because Saunders left but I wouldn't expect it to be a very big one...

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Just because Saunders left KC doesnt mean that he took every stitch of knowledge from the brains of his former assistants and then magically set all the playbooks on fire as he rode off into the eastern sunrise..

Please, take the BnG glasses off for a second. KC will still have a very potent offense because they will still run a variation of the offense that they have ran for the last several years under Saunders.

It's a new staff with a new offensive coordinator and play caller. Just leaving the playbook behind doesn't make up for the ability to call the right play at the right time. Again, I cite Rod Dowhower as an example.

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It's a new staff with a new offensive coordinator and play caller. Just leaving the playbook behind doesn't make up for the ability to call the right play at the right time. Again, I cite Rod Dowhower as an example.

Wrong.

It is not a new staff. Herm Edwards didnt bring over very many people from his days in NY, he said that he wasnt going to adjust the offense, the new OC is the former O line coach and he kept most if not all of the assistants.

The offense will basically be the same, the play calling will be the only thing that will have the possibility of being dramatically different.

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If I were to guess... I wouldn't pick Larry Johnson for MVP. Though, he does have a shot. When you promote an 0-line coach to offensive coordinator... chances are you are going to emphasize the "run" a little more. So he'll get his touches.

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The point of this thread is that Larry Johnson will not win MVP. Larry Johnson will not rush for 2000 yards. Larry Johnson will probably have a good season but not a great one because Al Saunders isn't calling the plays any more.

The point is this thread is that the success of the Chiefs offense was, significantly, Al Saunders.

For those who don't understand the importance of losing someone like Al Saunders, I'll mention two words "Rod Dowhower".

I think Al Saunders is pretty darn good, but remember, the Chiefs have the best OL in the NFL. I think that has a whole lot, maybe more then Saunders, for their offense being so explosive.

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I think Al Saunders is pretty darn good, but remember, the Chiefs have the best OL in the NFL. I think that has a whole lot, maybe more then Saunders, for their offense being so explosive.

They had I believe 3 pro bowl Offensive Linemen. The Redskins can easily have 3 pro bowl OLs too(Jansen, Samuels, Thomas).

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If we can keep him healthy. He was a shell of himself in the playoffs last yr and it killed us.

LJ will be my first back taken in my fantasy league next yr -- even though Preist restructured his deal it won't matter. That is officially 27s team now and (as long as he doesnt beat up any more females) he will gain over 1700 yds

I'd take LJ as my first Fantasy pick also. Just don't forget, he started nine games, not a whole season. That can tend to wear on a player.

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Still, the main point is that neither the O-coordinator or the O-line are relevant to the fact that LJ hasn't started a whole season. He may be a great runner, even top five, but let's see him run in 16 games first before we anoint him the next Jim Brown.

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Still, the main point is that neither the O-coordinator or the O-line are relevant to the fact that LJ hasn't started a whole season. He may be a great runner, even top five, but let's see him run in 16 games first before we anoint him the next Jim Brown.

He ran for 1750 yards. That's a season's worth of production whether it happened in 16 games or 9 games.

It's arguable that his 9-game stretch is the greatest single stretch of running in NFL history.

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And before he did that, everyone was talking about Clinton's 1,500 yds and 15 TD's in 12 games. I get that it's impressive. That doesn't mean he'll hold up for 16 games. More importantly, who did he run against? Were they all top five run defenses? Lastly, Don't you think folks will be keying on Larry now that he did that? These things have a way of catching up to a player. I'm not saying he isn't great. I already said I'd take him #1 in a FF draft. I'm just saying some caution is probably pragmatic

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He ran for 1750 yards. That's a season's worth of production whether it happened in 16 games or 9 games.

It's arguable that his 9-game stretch is the greatest single stretch of running in NFL history.

Not to diminish his accomplishments by any means... because you don't do that without talent. And I've seen some great runs by the guy.

However, temper the enthusiasm just a bit :) You have to take EVERYTHING into consideration: (1) like divisional opponents and how strong they are in a given year - remember how bad the Raiders were last year and (2) hey, you keep a talented backup fresh for the first half of the season.... and then ride his horse for the 2nd half... when other teams/defenses are banged up... that helps.

If I were a betting man... I'd wager he doesn't match that yardage next season... even with a full 16 games.

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