Keep ****ing doubting Rishaw Johnson.

[Direckshun]

http://www.arrowheadpride.com/2014/3...-johnson-guard

Kansas City Chiefs G Rishaw Johnson impressed late last season
By Joel Thorman
on Mar 19 2014, 8:44a

Regular readers may have noticed that we recently posted an item on Chiefs safety Sanders Commings and whether he could end up being the answer at free safety. Right here we have another post wondering if an in-house player is the answer at a position of need.

The position is guard and the player is Rishaw Johnson.

As a refresher, Johnson was an SEC recruit at Ole Miss in 2008. He was there until 2010 when he was kicked off the team. He then went to California (PA). He joined the Seahawks in his first season in the NFL then came to Kansas City his second year. The league lists him at 6'3 and 313 pounds. Last year's starting guards are listed at 340 pounds (Geoff Scwhartz), 306 pounds (Jon Asamoah) and 305 pounds (Jon Asamoah).

Matt Conner included Johnson in our in-house players series earlier this year but I came across a couple more of items on Johnson that warrants another look-see.

Last week, I saw this from Lance Zierlein, sports talk radio host in Houston and football writer:

Lance Zierlein @LanceZierlein

@bkissel7 @Schottey Chiefs believe Rishaw is ready to take over. They LOVED how he played vs. SD at end of the year.

Johnson was among the Chiefs backups that played in Week 17 against the Chargers while the starters rested but a backup throughout the season. That caught my interest for obvious reasons being free agency week and all. If the Chiefs believe they possibly / maybe / could have a potential starting guard on the roster, they probably wouldn't go out and spend big money on a guard in free agency, right?

Terez A. Paylor @TerezPaylor

This is true. Did well vs SD RT @ArrowheadPride: Seems like a long shot but Chiefs do have an in-house option at OG http://sbn.to/1jxEmMw

But wait! There's more!

Schwartz, who is now with the Giants in New York, went on The Drive with Danny Parkins on 610 Sports on Tuesday. Danny asked him what the Chiefs have in the guys who were behind him on the Chiefs line last season.

"Rishaw played really well in the Chargers game," Schwartz said. "He's a guy that has a lot of talent and he really developed as the year went on. He's strong and explosive off the ball. Sometimes it takes guys a couple of years to get comfortable where they're playing in a game. He did a great job against the Chargers."

Another mention of the Chargers game ... interesting. This led me to asking Chiefs GM John Dorsey on our call yesterday how important that Week 17 game was for the coaching staff and front office, getting the youngsters a shot to play.

"Anytime you can get another opportunity to evaluate the players that don't get to contribute on a week-in, week-out basis, that's very helpful," Dorsey said. "What it does is it helps the coaching staff get a degree of comfort that those guys in the personnel department as they build this thing. That's what the communication between the coaches and the personnel staff does. It's always an advantage to get those guys to play and those guys showed very well on Week 17 of the NFL schedule."

Unfortunately, Dorsey wasn't giving us an in-depth scouting report on Johnson but he did say this: "He's going to come in here and he's going to compete. He's showed that he can play the game of football, and I'm just excited to see how much stride he has made here this year."

It's a long way to the season opener with more free agency and the 2014 NFL Draft to acquire more talent as well as evaluation opportunities such as OTAs and training camp to evaluate existing talent. Rishaw Johnson is one of those existing talents that is one to keep an eye on.

It's almost like the Sanders Commings situation. You have hopes that this guy can come in and take over the job next year. But he's probably too young and inexperienced to hand the job to him. Competition and veteran insurance (Jeff Linkenbach?) is needed.

My gut has been telling me for a while that the Chiefs first round pick will be an offensive lineman. That would obviously shake things up.

[booger]

Originally Posted by SNR

Emphasis on the word "proven" in "proven depth."

Another rookie isn't going to be the answer. You'll just be replacing Rishaw Johnson's struggles with someone else's.

That's why I was all about re-signing Schwartz and keeping the draft completely out of the guard picture this year.

I'm with you there. I wanted to see Geoff resigned. I think in their view Linkenbach is a very similar player to Schwartz when he was signed last year. The versitility and a part time starter. Dorsey loves Kush and Reid drafted Jason Kelce as a 6th rounder and started him at C in his 2nd year so them moving Hudson to G is something I think they will strongly consider as well. In one of Dorsey's Q/A's, not a recent one but maybe his end of the season presser he mentioned not being surprised if Kush pushes for a starting job. In that case I like Hudson better at LG than RG and that would allow Allen to compete at RG too. I'd like to see them add J'Marcus Webb who they recently visited with. Chris Ballard knows him well from his time with the Bears when he was drafted and Martz loved him. He's only 25-26 with quite a bit of starts under his belt and could compete with Linkebach for a backup job. It's probably better and safer to get a guy like Daryn College on board as a vet with years full of starts under his belt.

All of the talk last year about the youngest line in the league and it's gotten younger this year so far. It's a concern for sure

[Messier]

Originally Posted by Mr. Laz

You are talking positions without regard to talent. The total team talent level matters even if it's depth. Every starter lost is talent lost even if you replace that talent from an existing player. You still lose depth.

ARRIVALS
Linkenbach, Jeffrey**
Owens, Chris
Walker, Vance*
Mays, Joe*

DEPARTURES

Albert, Branden*
Asamoah, Jon*
Demps, Quintin**
Jackson, Tyson*
Jordan, Akeem**
Lewis, Kendrick*
McCluster, Dexter*
Powe, Jerrell
Schwartz, Geoff*

* had significant time starting
** significant backups

Who are you most upset about losing?

The Chiefs will have the same number of players at those positions. They aren't gonna have fewer players. I think it'll be easy to upgrade even the reserve positions.

[Messier]

Jordan was a starter.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by Mr. Laz

You are talking positions without regard to talent. The total team talent level matters even if it's depth. Every starter lost is talent lost even if you replace that talent from an existing player. You still lose depth.

ARRIVALS
Linkenbach, Jeffrey**
Owens, Chris
Walker, Vance*
Mays, Joe*

ARRIVALS WE DIDN'T SEE LAST YEAR
Commings, Sanders
Kelce, Travis

DEPARTURES

Albert, Branden* (starter in-house. Depth at this position neutralized by Linkenbach)
Asamoah, Jon*Asamaoh, Jon**
Demps, Quintin** neutralized by Chris Owen
Jackson, Tyson* neutralized by Walker
Jordan, Akeem** neutralized by Mays
Lewis, Kendrick* probably neutralized by Commings, a guy not on the roster last year
McCluster, Dexter* likely neutralized by Kelce, a guy not on the roster last year because Kelce will add a receiving option
Powe, Jerrell (barely played)
Schwartz, Geoff*

* had significant time starting
** significant backups

FYP above

And we still have a lot of free agency and the draft. After this time last year, Dorsey hauled in Cooper, McGrath, Parker, Jenkins, Sherman, Fisher, Zombo, Catapano, Rokevius Watkins, Rishaw Johnson, Nico Johnson, Kush, Akeem Jordan. That's thirteen 2014 roster players, five 2013 starters, and 2 or 3 of those guys may end up being 2014 starters.

So no, I am not worried about depth. And I'm also not worried that the remainder of the offseason, we won't neutralize our talent losses. We have to replace a backup Guard, a starting Guard, and a loss in talent at Left Tackle. And some minor losses in talent at some positions likely neutralized by improvements in organic talent already on the roster.

[Mr. Laz]

Originally Posted by Messier

Who are you most upset about losing?

The Chiefs will have the same number of players at those positions. They aren't gonna have fewer players. I think it'll be easy to upgrade even the reserve positions.

I'm upset about losing talent and not replacing it.

doesn't matter how well we draft because it should be FA + Draft

You have 3 phases to improve your team in the offseason

FA
Trade
Draft

Once you don't improve in one of these areas you can't make it up ... once it's gone, it's gone. Unless you crossover (ie trade players for draft picks etc).

imo we haven't done enough in FA, it makes me think we aren't serious about winning. That's why i'm pissed.

I understand mistakes and failures but i can't stand not trying.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by Mr. Laz

I'm upset about losing talent and not replacing it.

doesn't matter how well we draft because it should be FA + Draft

You have 3 phases to improve your team in the offseason

FA
Trade
Draft

Once you don't improve in one of these areas you can't make it up ... once it's gone, it's gone. Unless you crossover (ie trade players for draft picks etc).

imo we haven't done enough in FA, it makes me think we aren't serious about winning. That's why i'm pissed.

I understand mistakes and failures but i can't stand not trying.

We probably upgraded both DE and ILB at a lower combined cost than keeping Jordan and Tyson Jackson. Outside of that, we saved about $20M on three offensive linemen, a position we've all screamed up and down is not a high positional value spot.

If this team ends up being equal or better than last year while saving $20M, resigning Alex Smith/Houston/Berry to huge long-term non cap-killing deals, while not hastily restructuring Hali and Flowers to shitty cap-killing contracts, AND as a result of all that earn our way to 3 to 4 good to great compensatory picks (giving us 10-11 picks in 2015), I'd say that's an offseason that actually feels like a strategy whereas last year was just throwing money at players to help us fill seats.

[SPATCH]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

We probably upgraded both DE and ILB at a lower combined cost than keeping Jordan and Tyson Jackson. Outside of that, we saved about $20M on three offensive linemen, a position we've all screamed up and down is not a high positional value spot.

If this team ends up being equal or better than last year while saving $20M, resigning Alex Smith/Houston/Berry to huge long-term non cap-killing deals, while not hastily restructuring Hali and Flowers to shitty cap-killing contracts, AND as a result of all that earn our way to 3 to 4 good to great compensatory picks (giving us 10-11 picks in 2015), I'd say that's an offseason that actually feels like a strategy whereas last year was just throwing money at players to help us fill seats.

Potential comp picks for Hali/Flowers departure would not occur for 2015 draft. We should see nice 2015 comp picks resulting from the current free agency, though.

[milkman]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

We probably upgraded both DE and ILB at a lower combined cost than keeping Jordan and Tyson Jackson. Outside of that, we saved about $20M on three offensive linemen, a position we've all screamed up and down is not a high positional value spot.

If this team ends up being equal or better than last year while saving $20M, resigning Alex Smith/Houston/Berry to huge long-term non cap-killing deals, while not hastily restructuring Hali and Flowers to shitty cap-killing contracts, AND as a result of all that earn our way to 3 to 4 good to great compensatory picks (giving us 10-11 picks in 2015), I'd say that's an offseason that actually feels like a strategy whereas last year was just throwing money at players to help us fill seats.

Spin it however you want, last year's offseason combined with this year's only strengthens the notion that Clark Hunt only cares about putting butts into the seats.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by milkman

Spin it however you want, last year's offseason combined with this year's only strengthens the notion that Clark Hunt only cares about putting butts into the seats.

Spin it however you want...
You are suggesting the Chiefs should have either torn the team apart and committed to a painful rebuild the year after a massive fan revolt. Or option B, because we invested in Alex Smith, we should be throwing money as if Smith is a guy who can carry a team to the Super Bowl on his back. I'm not a fan of either of those choices (and no, I'm not a blind Dorsey apologist. I've consistently been critical of his big offseason moves last year).

Also, it's hard to claim Hunt doesn't want to win big after he went over Peterson's head to give Herm license to commit to a rebuild, and then hired Pioli and told him he had time and patience to let him build the team his way.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by the_spatula

Potential comp picks for Hali/Flowers departure would not occur for 2015 draft. We should see nice 2015 comp picks resulting from the current free agency, though.

We will likely get comp picks for Albert, Schwartz, and maybe both McCluster and Asamoah. We will likely get comped for losing a ton of free agents (mostly big contract free agents). At this rate, we might get 4 comp picks and some as high as the 3rd round.

Signing Jairus Byrd hurts our ability to win comp picks. Extending Smith, Houston, and Berry does not.

[J Diddy]

Originally Posted by milkman

Spin it however you want, last year's offseason combined with this year's only strengthens the notion that Clark Hunt only cares about putting butts into the seats.

I don't get it. He gutted FO, coaching staff following a fan rebellion, granted. However, he hasn't signed any big named players that would be conducive with that philosophy.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by Dick Bull

I don't get it. He gutted FO, coaching staff following a fan rebellion, granted. However, he hasn't signed any big named players that would be conducive with that philosophy.

Last year was probably the only year in Hunt's entire run that we saw the team use free agency to build a winner.

And no I don't think he's cheap. He seems to put a lot of faith in his GMs/coaches to build things their way and I don't for a second think Pioli and Dorsey were hired because they have a history of being cheap. In Pioli, he gambled really poorly. In Herm he gambled correctly. Yet to see on Dorsey. His ability to draft this year in next year will tell us a lot about how good he really is.

[Mother****erJones]

I don't think Hunt is cheap. He's spending a shit load of cash to put this new FO in place, get rid of the old bad shit FO and coaches.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by Mother****erJones

I don't think Hunt is cheap. He's spending a shit load of cash to put this new FO in place, get rid of the old bad shit FO and coaches.

The Chiefs could position themselves well to make a really massive upgrade to this team in 2015. They'll have a lot of money to play with and there is a TON of talent that could pop into the 2015 free agent class including JJ Watt and maybe someone like Earl Thomas. And because of our conservative approach to the absolutely shitty 2014 free agent class, we could wind up with 11 draft picks. Because we were patient with Hali and Flowers, we can restructure their contracts next year when we have leverage.

[J Diddy]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

Last year was probably the only year in Hunt's entire run that we saw the team use free agency to build a winner.

And no I don't think he's cheap. He seems to put a lot of faith in his GMs/coaches to build things their way and I don't for a second think Pioli and Dorsey were hired because they have a history of being cheap. In Pioli, he gambled really poorly. In Herm he gambled correctly. Yet to see on Dorsey. His ability to draft this year in next year will tell us a lot about how good he really is.

Yes last year was one of the few years we've seen him maximize FA to give us a shot, but think about how it was done. Nothing spectacular. Avery and Smith were the only recognizable names (granted you could include Fasano in that as well) but nobody who would automatically be granted a team changer.

We signed a ton of short term contracts to players who are good but not great.

If the goal is to put "butts in seats" than he's doing it all wrong. Signing big named FA is the way to go about it. Seriously who's going to sell more tickets? Brett Favre or Sean Smith?