ATL_Predator+ 1,196 Posted December 19, 2012 We noted on Sunday that the Titans will have a tough decision to make regarding running back Chris Johnson after the season, when they must decide by February 9 whether to release him or to guarantee $9 million of his $10 million salary in 2013. But according to one report, the Titans don’t view it as all that tough a decision: Johnson is staying put. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports that the Titans fully intend to keep Johnson on the team, with his current contract in place, and pay him that $10 million salary in 2013. According to Rapoport, the Titans think Johnson’s status as the seventh-leading rusher in the NFL this year, as well as his status as the team’s most recognizable star, makes him worth the money. There’s no doubt that Johnson is still a big-play back: His 94-yard touchdown on Monday night was his third touchdown run of 80 or more yards this season. Johnson and Barry Sanders are the only players in NFL history to have three touchdown runs of 80 yards or more in one season. The problem, however, is that Johnson is far too inconsistent. On Johnson’s other 20 carries on Monday night, he gained a grand total of 28 yards. And Johnson has had some spectacularly awful games this season, with totals including 11 carries for four yards, eight carries for 17 yards, 14 carries for 24 yards and 15 carries for 24 yards. But the Titans apparently think that despite those bad games, he’s worth the money. If they’re paying him $10 million, they’ll need him to score more 80-yard touchdowns, and cut out the four-yard games. /PFT Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oochymp 2,393 Posted December 19, 2012 (edited) he's gotten better as the season has progressed, and he is the biggest threat on our offense at this point, so this really shouldn't surprise anyone Edited December 19, 2012 by oochymp Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OSUViking 505 Posted December 20, 2012 Even if he is inconsistent, just imagine how bad the Titans would be without CJ (no offense to Titan fans, of course). He's the biggest bright spot of their offense. Honestly, this move would be a no-brainer for me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
.AirMcNair. 1,232 Posted December 20, 2012 We have no cap issues and he's one of the top 5 backs in the league. Anyone who seriously believes we'll cut him needs to be put in a mental institution. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
56AceInDaPlace 110 Posted January 1, 2013 We have no cap issues and he's one of the top 5 backs in the league. Anyone who seriously believes we'll cut him needs to be put in a mental institution. But we seriously need to upgrade the interior in free agency. Grab the best center or guard. In the draft I know we are going defense first pick, but 2nd and 3rd pick better be on the oline. If CJ just has the line maintain their blocks, he would have so much better success. The oline played well at certain points of the season and then most games they just SUCKED. Awful. CJ still got his though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bay 2,003 Posted January 1, 2013 We have no cap issues and he's one of the top 5 backs in the league. I lol'd 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
56AceInDaPlace 110 Posted January 1, 2013 I lol'd Its ok, not everyone knows that Chris Johnson is a top 5 RB. Now you do. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jayrus 51 Posted January 1, 2013 We have no cap issues and he was one of the top 5 backs in the league until he got paid more than he deserved and stopped trying. Fixed. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Omerta+ 1,206 Posted January 1, 2013 (edited) Top 5 back.... If we can count seasons past Ray Lewis is still the best MLB in the league It does not work that way if he wants to proclaim a top 5 back status he has to EARN it. This year ?yeah nope, not even close. Last year ? Nope, not even close. He has so much work to do to get back to top 5 back it is nuts. In no order people who can legitimately claim top 5. AP, RR, Lesean McCoy, Marshawn Lynch, Arian Foster and Jamaal Charles. Any of those backs could make the case. CJ no he is not top 5. Ridiculous. Edited January 1, 2013 by Ngata_Chance Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
56AceInDaPlace 110 Posted January 1, 2013 Top 5 back.... If we can count seasons past Ray Lewis is still the best MLB in the league It does not work that way if he wants to proclaim a top 5 back status he has to EARN it. This year ?yeah nope, not even close. Last year ? Nope, not even close. He has so much work to do to get back to top 5 back it is nuts. In no order people who can legitimately claim top 5. AP, RR, Lesean McCoy, Marshawn Lynch, Arian Foster and Jamaal Charles. Any of those backs could make the case. CJ no he is not top 5. Ridiculous. Why isn't CJ in the top 5? He produced some nice numbers this year despite having dog shit for a interior oline. He played thru bad oline play and still put up some good numbers. Isn't that what top RB's do? Palmer took out all the good run plays and put in basic plays. The run up the middle, I rarely seen any counters, power plays or tosses. Not even screens. On offense we are predictable as hell. Not to mention when your down 14 early in almost every week, you don't get too many chances to run the ball. CJ had several games where he only had like 10-14 carries. He needs the ball more. The coordinator has to find plays for his players. We have weapons but Locker looked like dog shit and the line was a problem. CJ faces a crowded box designed to stop HIM. A QB who cant throw for shit. And a bad oline. CJ deals with a lot of problems, more then he should anyways. I know Charles does too, but he has a better line in run blocking. Once the interior line is shored up, itll be a big difference in CJ's big plays and numbers. He showed it thru many runs this year when he finally got space. CJ has SIX TD runs over 80 yards in his career, THREE of those this year. The most in a CAREER before CJ? THREE. Point is CJ still produced thru a shitty season and a piss poor performance of a team, both sides. If you don't think so, then you plain hating for whatever reason. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Favre4Ever+ 4,476 Posted January 1, 2013 Ahman Green is still a Top 5 back, IMO. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Omerta+ 1,206 Posted January 1, 2013 (edited) Why isn't CJ in the top 5? He produced some nice numbers this year despite having dog shit for a interior oline. He played thru bad oline play and still put up some good numbers. Isn't that what top RB's do? Palmer took out all the good run plays and put in basic plays. The run up the middle, I rarely seen any counters, power plays or tosses. Not even screens. On offense we are predictable as hell. Not to mention when your down 14 early in almost every week, you don't get too many chances to run the ball. CJ had several games where he only had like 10-14 carries. He needs the ball more. The coordinator has to find plays for his players. We have weapons but Locker looked like dog shit and the line was a problem. CJ faces a crowded box designed to stop HIM. A QB who cant throw for shit. And a bad oline. CJ deals with a lot of problems, more then he should anyways. I know Charles does too, but he has a better line in run blocking. Once the interior line is shored up, itll be a big difference in CJ's big plays and numbers. He showed it thru many runs this year when he finally got space. CJ has SIX TD runs over 80 yards in his career, THREE of those this year. The most in a CAREER before CJ? THREE. Point is CJ still produced thru a shitty season and a piss poor performance of a team, both sides. If you don't think so, then you plain hating for whatever reason. This should be merged with the Romo thread because all I see is a bunch of excuses. "Oh CJ does not have this." "Oh CJ does not have that." That is probably why he has started the past two seasons like dog shit because nobody is willing to hold him accountable. He just gets a free pass for being the most overpaid back in the league and since he his one of the few good players you have he gets a pass. Man every time this thread comes up you are the one who has these delusions of persecution. Nobody is hating. When a back runs for 1200 yards, has 200 yards receiving and 6 touchdowns, what the fuck do you want us to say ? Oh yeah CJ is easily top 5 his production does not say that but it is there subliminally. Nobody is hating to say the guy has been average the last two seasons. You know why ? BECAUSE HE HAS. Forgive me if I dont do a back flip for that kind of awesome. Wow he ran for 80 yards three times. That would be impressive except he ballooned his stats against the worst run D in the league in Buffalo...Color me shocked. I guess a 200 yard performance against those guys means you are the end all be all. Dude he is average until he shows he is otherwise. You can point at that 2,000 yard season and cling to it like linus all you want, but as of right now that is looking more like the exception no the rule. He did it once and has not ever gotten close before or since. If he was as great as you say you would figure at least he would be competitive in the rushing title two years removed from a 2K season but he has not. You do not have a top 5 back UNTIL he earns it. Right now you might have a top 10 back but there are ten others I would rather have personally. Edited January 1, 2013 by Ngata_Chance 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Favre4Ever+ 4,476 Posted January 1, 2013 I will try to keep this simple, but you know me sometimes... I don't think the one or two explosive plays Chris makes are worth the ~15 awful runs he has each game, where he gets taken down behind the line for -2 or tries to make magic happen and goes for like -5. If they were 4 yard gains instead of -2, it wouldn't be so bad. You might be able to tolerate it a little more if he wasn't getting paid $10 million. Or maybe you could stomach it a little more if hew was still as explosive in the passing game as he was in '09. Or... Maybe you could stomach it a little more if he could actually block somebody. It's hard to say, because just looking at the raw numbers or totals on his profile page doesn't really give the whole story. It doesn't make you want to say, "Wow, this guy is bad". It makes him look very average, maybe slightly above. Unfortunately for Titans fans... Saying he is average would be overrating him, in my book. Dude is closer to the bottom 5 than he is the top 5. And nowhere near worth keeping, let alone at $10 million per. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thanatos 2,847 Posted January 1, 2013 (edited) Are we seriously using TD runs of 80+ to say CJ is an elite back? Who cares? That type of stat has pretty much no relevance. Yeah the dude is fast, and if he hits the open field, very few defenders will catch him. Doesn't make him a top-5 back. He was better this year than last year, I will give you that, but he wasn't a top-5 back this year. In terms of sheer running ability, he may break into the top-10, but as Favre pointed out, he doesn't do some things that others can- such as block. Seriously, when the only people who agree with you are fellow Titans fans, I think you might want to rethink your argument. There's a reason for that. CJ1K is not a top-5 back because the following RBs are in the league: Adrian Peterson, LeSean McCoy, Ray Rice, Jamaal Charles, Maurice Jones-Drew, Arian Foster, Matt Forte, and Marshawn Lynch. In order for you to say CJ is a top-5 RB, you'd have to put him ahead of four of those guys, and IMO, he's ahead of none of them. Those are only the really obvious ones. Based on this year's performance, throw Frank Gore, Alfred Morris, and Doug Martin in there, (ofc you'd have to take out MJD if we're just going on this year's performance, given that he was injured). Still, not a top-5 back because of his production this year, and now you're pushing whether he's even a top-10 back. Next year you might have guys like DeMarco Murray and David Wilson up there as well. Edited January 1, 2013 by Thanatos19 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ATL_Predator+ 1,196 Posted January 1, 2013 Adrian Peterson, Marshawn Lynch, Ray Rice, Lesean McCoy, Arian Foster. Tier 1/Top 5 MJD, Stevan Ridley, Frank Gore, Jamaal Charles, RUN DMC Tier 2/Top 10 Stop. CJ is mostly overrated because of Titans fans. The rest of the NFL knows the real story. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
.AirMcNair. 1,232 Posted January 1, 2013 I don't worry about what others think of CJ. Isn't even worth caring about anymore. The Titans coaching staff and front office knows how good he is(as do opposing teams) and that's really all that matters. Hopefully Jake can take his head out of his ass this year and give us a passing game. Hopefully Tom Moore moves up to OC as well. Fuck Loggains. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Favre4Ever+ 4,476 Posted January 1, 2013 There is no doubting how valuable Chris Johnson is. The Titans couldn't have lost 10 games without him. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
.AirMcNair. 1,232 Posted January 1, 2013 There is no doubting how valuable Chris Johnson is. The Titans couldn't have lost 10 games without him. Yeah. We would have went undefeated if not for his selfish, terrible play. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bay 2,003 Posted January 2, 2013 Now I'm being serious-- Titans fans please rank Chris Johnson in the top 5 then. Who do you have him over and why? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
.AirMcNair. 1,232 Posted January 2, 2013 Now I'm being serious-- Titans fans please rank Chris Johnson in the top 5 then. Who do you have him over and why? I've got: Peterson Lynch Charles As my top 3. Then CJ, Morris, Gore, Foster, Martin, Rice, Ridley and Spiller can all fight for the last 2 spots in the top 5, I don't really care, but I view them all as roughly equals. Morris maybe can take that #4 spot, but he's helped a lot by RG3. Not stating that as a minus on his ability, but when you have a QB who is as accurate as it gets in this league and can run as well as most RBs, a lot of the attention goes to him. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bay 2,003 Posted January 2, 2013 I was kinda being a dick yesterday cause I was drinking... but alright. I'm not in the mood to argue really lol Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Favre4Ever+ 4,476 Posted January 2, 2013 Chris Johnson is better than Arian Foster and Ray Rice.... Oh boy. Those are some doo doo ass drugs you are taking. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
.AirMcNair. 1,232 Posted January 2, 2013 Chris Johnson is better than Arian Foster and Ray Rice.... Oh boy. Those are some doo doo ass drugs you are taking. Yeah, what am I thinking. They're in a different universe. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
.AirMcNair. 1,232 Posted January 2, 2013 I was kinda being a dick yesterday cause I was drinking... but alright. I'm not in the mood to argue really lol You asked that question today. What does that have to do with what you said yesterday? lol Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
