Bryant Johnson (AZ) (1 Viewer)

[Weiner Dog]

Denny Green likes to throw. He likes to throw a lot.

The Cards averaged 42 attempts and 26 completions/game last year. This exceeded the #2 team by 44 attempts and 27 completions. Fast forward to this year. With the addition of Edge, I would assume the number of attempts/game will fall. By how much?? This is anybody's guess.

With this "pass first" mentality, I'm surprised more mention of former 1st-rounder Bryant Johnson has not been posted. The guy obviously did not live up to his draft hype (...even though most believe the Cards reached to take him). However, if either Boldin or Fitz goes down with an injury, Johnson should get his fair share of these 26 (or so) completions. Johnson's only competition is Troy Walters and LeRon McCoy (who??).

In the age of "who's your favorite sleeper??", I would have to think Johnson would have some major value if an injury befalls the current two-headed monster in AZ. In fact, I could see Johnson outperforming the #1 WR on many teams. FBG's collectively do not have Johnson ranked anywhere in redraft leagues (12 staff members and 75 WR's ranked). Dodds has Johnson ranked #93 in his projections. This could represent some major value.

Sure...injuries cannot predicted when ranking players. I fully understand this when reviewing the rankings. However, with talk of handcuffing your RB's and QB's, how can a Boldin or Fitz owner not handcuff their #1 WR with Johnson??

 

[Twilight]

One problem. If Fitz or Boldin goes down, then the beneficiary will be the other WR, not BJ. Look at the numbers last year, when Boldin went down.

 

[Big Score]

One problem. If Fitz or Boldin goes down, then the beneficiary will be the other WR, not BJ. Look at the numbers last year, when Boldin went down.

And the year before that.And the year before that when there was no Fitz.

BJ is, what he is. An Ok number 3 WR and not much else.

 

[Weiner Dog]

One problem. If Fitz or Boldin goes down, then the beneficiary will be the other WR, not BJ. Look at the numbers last year, when Boldin went down.

I agree 100% that an injury will undoubtedly increase the value of the other remaing WR. As you noted, Fitz had 17 receptions and 245 yards in the two games Boldin was down. However, with 26 completions/game (give or take) being scattered, who'll be catching the other 17-18 passes??Just a FYI...Johnson started Week 9 when Boldin was injured. He responded with a 6-66-1 day before getting hurt. McCoy started in place of both Boldin and Johnson in Week 10 and responded with a very solid 6-70 day.

 

[diesel7982]

Lets see BJ definitively win the #3 role over Leron McCoy this year first.

 

[Jeff Pasquino]

Lets see BJ definitively win the #3 role over Leron McCoy this year first.

Good name to put out there, but I like the BJ option personally.Last season, BJ had more targets than McCoy in every game that both played in but Week 15.

LINK

If either Fitz or Boldin went gimpy AT ALL, I'd claim Johnson immediately.

 

[buckeye35]

I've stashed B. J. on my roster the last few years in redrafts and he's just a constant disappointment.

I don't even know if this stat means anything, but Johnson had 71 targets last year. I counted players with 71 targets and less last year until I reached 15 players (including Johnson). 10 of those players had more yards then Johnson and 11 had more TDs. I'm not sure there's any evidence that, given more opportunities, he would do anything with them. His yards/catch have dropped in each of his 3 years and he has 3 career TDs on 124 catches.

 

[diesel7982]

Lets see BJ definitively win the #3 role over Leron McCoy this year first.

Good name to put out there, but I like the BJ option personally.Last season, BJ had more targets than McCoy in every game that both played in but Week 15.

LINK

If either Fitz or Boldin went gimpy AT ALL, I'd claim Johnson immediately.

No kidding. But that has no effect on this season. Im a Johnson fan, but Green seems to like McCoy and he has a legit shot at unseating Johnson, especially since Bryant drops 1 pass for every two that he catches.

 

[Bri]

Johnson was the #3 even playing that role at times when Boldin was hurt. He wasn't re-signed right away and he and Green had a standoff of sorts and a chat. I do not know(of course) what was said but he is still with them and the former first round pick wanted to play more.

I expect him to get more touches initially esp if he has a good preseason. His role could change by week 4 if he doesn't play well but I think it's fair to say there's something up with his touches and playing time for 2006.

Remember, Green has said a few times that he wants to run 3 WR more often and that Edge affords them this luxury. (Grain of salt as it was the spring but...)

 

[Marc Levin]

Warner is also supposedly lobbying for the team to sign Az Zahir Hakim - just another player to throw into the mix.

I also don't think BJ <<ggg>> is the automatic beneficiary if one of the starters gets injured - I think Edge and the remaining WR are.

In short, no - Johnson is not the "ultimate" WR handcuff.

 

[Weiner Dog]

Warner is also supposedly lobbying for the team to sign Az Zahir Hakim - just another player to throw into the mix.

Old news.Warner lobbied for Hakim nearly 10 weeks ago. The Cards (...and the rest of the NFL) have since discovered that Hakim has a knee injury.

 

[Marc Levin]

Warner is also supposedly lobbying for the team to sign Az Zahir Hakim - just another player to throw into the mix.

Old news.Warner lobbied for Hakim nearly 10 weeks ago. The Cards (...and the rest of the NFL) have since discovered that Hakim has a knee injury.

Yes, but he may be recovered in the next month or two and is still a free agent.

 

[David Yudkin]

In short, no - Johnson is not the "ultimate" WR handcuff.

When did people start handcuffing WR? I guess I missed that memo. (Although this offseason there does seem to be a fair amount of WR in handcuffs).

 

[Captain Quinoa]

In short, no - Johnson is not the "ultimate" WR handcuff.

When did people start handcuffing WR? I guess I missed that memo. (Although this offseason there does seem to be a fair amount of WR in handcuffs).

i'm handcuffing every position this year why have productive players on your roster when you can have guys who might see the field once in a while if someone gets hurt.

 

[Weiner Dog]

Let's take a look at the '05 team ranked #2 in completions...the Rams.

If Holt or Bruce owners would have handcuffed their WR with Kevin Curtis, they would have had scored the following:

Bruce missed Weeks 4-8, while Holt missed Weeks 7-8. How did Curtis respond??

Week 4 ~ 6/78

Week 5 ~ 5/63

Week 6 ~ 3/73/1

Week 7 ~ 3/69

Week 8 ~ 3/105/1

Projected over 16 games, this is a 64/1242/6 season.

What is more crazy...handcuffing your star WR on a pass-happy offense with the next guy on the depth chart, or handcuffing guys like Curtis Martin and Fred Taylor with their three backups (Houston, Blaylock and Washington / Jones, Drew and Pearman))??

 

[David Yudkin]

Let's take a look at the '05 team ranked #2 in completions...the Rams.

If Holt or Bruce owners would have handcuffed their WR with Kevin Curtis, they would have had scored the following:

Bruce missed Weeks 4-8, while Holt missed Weeks 7-8. How did Curtis respond??

Week 4 ~ 6/78

Week 5 ~ 5/63

Week 6 ~ 3/73/1

Week 7 ~ 3/69

Week 8 ~ 3/105/1

Projected over 16 games, this is a 64/1242/6 season.

What is more crazy...handcuffing your star WR on a pass-happy offense with the next guy on the depth chart, or handcuffing guys like Curtis Martin and Fred Taylor with their three backups (Houston, Blaylock and Washington / Jones, Drew and Pearman))??

Sure, Curtis did well IN 5 GAMES. But how often do WR get hurt midseason and how often would you ever even get to use the guy that's a WR3 that steps in only in case of an injury?And last year Curtis was available on waivers in most leagues--you could have claimed him pretty easily.

 

[Weiner Dog]

Let's take a look at the '05 team ranked #2 in completions...the Rams.

If Holt or Bruce owners would have handcuffed their WR with Kevin Curtis, they would have had scored the following:

Bruce missed Weeks 4-8, while Holt missed Weeks 7-8. How did Curtis respond??

Week 4 ~ 6/78

Week 5 ~ 5/63

Week 6 ~ 3/73/1

Week 7 ~ 3/69

Week 8 ~ 3/105/1

Projected over 16 games, this is a 64/1242/6 season.

What is more crazy...handcuffing your star WR on a pass-happy offense with the next guy on the depth chart, or handcuffing guys like Curtis Martin and Fred Taylor with their three backups (Houston, Blaylock and Washington / Jones, Drew and Pearman))??

Sure, Curtis did well IN 5 GAMES. But how often do WR get hurt midseason and how often would you ever even get to use the guy that's a WR3 that steps in only in case of an injury?

Do RB's really get hurt much more?? Other than McAllister, Holmes and A Green, which RB's missed considerable time last year?? I know guys like JJ and Cadillac missed a couple games, but I think only three RB's missed a large amount of time.Last year, #1 WR's like D Jackson, J Walker and Burleson all missed big chunks of time. Other #1's like Boldin, R Moss, Horn, and D Bennett also missed their share of games.

Just like with handcuffing RB's, some opportunities exist with handcuffing a WR while others do not. Would I have handcuffed Burleson with multiple guys like Travis Taylor and Marcus Robinson. No way. The same holds true with the youngsters backing-up both Horn and Bennett last year. However, Jurevicius in SEA had 535 yards and 6 TD's in the 10 games Jackson missed (856 yards and 10 TD's projected over 16 games). Doug Gabriel filled-in nicely for Moss in Week 6 with a a 5-84 day.

All and all...if you play in a deep league and you have a star WR on pass-happy offense, there are a few nice #3 WR's to own this year.

 

[Weiner Dog]

Let's take a look at the '05 team ranked #2 in completions...the Rams.

If Holt or Bruce owners would have handcuffed their WR with Kevin Curtis, they would have had scored the following:

Bruce missed Weeks 4-8, while Holt missed Weeks 7-8. How did Curtis respond??

Week 4 ~ 6/78

Week 5 ~ 5/63

Week 6 ~ 3/73/1

Week 7 ~ 3/69

Week 8 ~ 3/105/1

Projected over 16 games, this is a 64/1242/6 season.

What is more crazy...handcuffing your star WR on a pass-happy offense with the next guy on the depth chart, or handcuffing guys like Curtis Martin and Fred Taylor with their three backups (Houston, Blaylock and Washington / Jones, Drew and Pearman))??

And last year Curtis was available on waivers in most leagues--you could have claimed him pretty easily.

I don't know about you, but Curtis was far from easy to claim AFTER Holt and/or Bruce went down.

 

[David Yudkin]

Do RB's really get hurt much more?

READ ME

 

[Weiner Dog]

Do RB's really get hurt much more?

READ ME

This piece has many additional factors (other than injury) driving the stat line. To name a few...1) The increased use of RBBC in the NFL

2) The allottment of the word "starter" to the ball carrier with the most touches

If you transpose "WR" with "RB" in your sample, you will see that 19 different receivers led their respective teams in receiving in Week 16, but did not lead their team in receiving in Week 1. For comparitive purposes, your piece showed 15 different RB's leading their respective teams in touches in Week 16, but not leading their team in receiving in Week1.

In today's NFL, the ball is scattered and touches are dispersed. Of the 15 RB's you referenced for leading their teams in touches in Week 16, four of them were stuck in a RBBC whereas the Week 1 leader still played in the game (TEN, MIN, SF and AZ). Additionally, Ricky Williams could not have been the Week 1 leader b/c he was suspended.

Your piece is really an eye-opener. It seriously is. I just don't think it can be used to prove quantity of injury for certain positions. If anything, I think it hammers the importance of acquiring a non-RBBC RB w/o an injury history.

 

[Marc Levin]

Last year, #1 WR's like D Jackson, J Walker and Burleson all missed big chunks of time.  Other #1's like Boldin, R Moss, Horn, and D Bennett also missed their share of games.Just like with handcuffing RB's, some opportunities exist with handcuffing a WR while others do not. 

You have good logic, but faulty support. The specific dos not prove the general. The only reason those situations played out was that the starter was injured and one player "stepped up" (sorry Joe).Now let's look at all the OTHER situations where handcuffing woulda been a bad idea - Indy, Arizona, Oakland, etc. There were situations where it might have been prudent to backup your starting WR from those teams, but it wouldn't have paid off.In short, I'm with DaveY - who handcuffs WRs?? You are BETTER off spending high to draft two WRs from the same team b/c the opposing starter is usually the better recipient of FF#s if the other starter is hurt.In short, I'd spend a lot for Harrison/Wayne or Holt/Bruyce (as examples) over having only one of those WRs and backing them up with Curtis/Stokely.Edit to add - I like the two WRs from the same team approach when it is a DJax/Engram sitch (a pairing I actually employed last year) - and this year's Holt/Bruce sitch - and JWalker/RSmith sitch - look VERY doable.

 

[azcards33]

no offense, but i don't think Bryant Johnson is worthy of being on any fantasy football squad, now or in the future. This guy is garbage

I was really high on him going into the 2004 season when he had supposedly built a strong rapport the team's QB that offseason, and with Anquan Boldin expected to miss a significant amount of time due to injury. He didn't produce then and I don't see any reason to think that he's somehow going to produce now. He came into last season again with lofty expectations, but did very little in terms of production

The Cardinals have given Johnson a number of opportunities to be a productive and important part of the team, but for some reason he just doesn't seem to 'get it'. He also has problems beating CBs in single coverage, which also presents a HUGE problem

With Troy Walters/Greg Lee now in the mix as well, i wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see one of them overtake Johnson as the team's #3 WR

 

[Weiner Dog]

Last year, #1 WR's like D Jackson, J Walker and Burleson all missed big chunks of time. Other #1's like Boldin, R Moss, Horn, and D Bennett also missed their share of games.

Just like with handcuffing RB's, some opportunities exist with handcuffing a WR while others do not.

You have good logic, but faulty support. The specific dos not prove the general. The only reason those situations played out was that the starter was injured and one player "stepped up" (sorry Joe).Now let's look at all the OTHER situations where handcuffing woulda been a bad idea - Indy, Arizona, Oakland, etc. There were situations where it might have been prudent to backup your starting WR from those teams, but it wouldn't have paid off.

In short, I'm with DaveY - who handcuffs WRs?? You are BETTER off spending high to draft two WRs from the same team b/c the opposing starter is usually the better recipient of FF#s if the other starter is hurt.

In short, I'd spend a lot for Harrison/Wayne or Holt/Bruyce (as examples) over having only one of those WRs and backing them up with Curtis/Stokely.

Edit to add - I like the two WRs from the same team approach when it is a DJax/Engram sitch (a pairing I actually employed last year) - and this year's Holt/Bruce sitch - and JWalker/RSmith sitch - look VERY doable.

With the increased use of RBBC in the NFL, I've found that more "top-shelf" WR's are going earlier and earlier each year. In the ADP report by Dodds, you will see that 12 WR's were chosen in the first three rounds (ie. top 36 picks). Expanding even further, 18 of the first 48 picks have been WR's. Rewind just 2-3 years ago, and you would probably be lucky to find 7-8 WR's going in the first three rounds and maybe 10-12 WR's going in the first four rounds.With the increased emphasis and valuation of WR's today, an owner would have an increased need to protect his early-round investment. Now...do I condone handcuffing either Roddy White or Michael Jenkins with Brian Finneran?? No. I do believe, however, guys like Bryant Johnson, Brandon Stokely and Kevin Curtis could have significant value despite being drafted late (...or not at all).

IMO, a guy like Bryant Johnson is the WR equivalent of a Dee Brown in KC, Maurice Morris in SEA or Ladell Betts in WAS. Johnson is the #3 WR on a pass-happy team, while Brown, Morris and Betts are the #2 RB's on run-happy teams.

 

[Marc Levin]

If BJ is the #3.

azcards' point is extremely well taken.

 

[David Yudkin]

Do RB's really get hurt much more?

READ ME

This piece has many additional factors (other than injury) driving the stat line. To name a few...1) The increased use of RBBC in the NFL

2) The allottment of the word "starter" to the ball carrier with the most touches

If you transpose "WR" with "RB" in your sample, you will see that 19 different receivers led their respective teams in receiving in Week 16, but did not lead their team in receiving in Week 1. For comparitive purposes, your piece showed 15 different RB's leading their respective teams in touches in Week 16, but not leading their team in receiving in Week1.

In today's NFL, the ball is scattered and touches are dispersed. Of the 15 RB's you referenced for leading their teams in touches in Week 16, four of them were stuck in a RBBC whereas the Week 1 leader still played in the game (TEN, MIN, SF and AZ). Additionally, Ricky Williams could not have been the Week 1 leader b/c he was suspended.

Your piece is really an eye-opener. It seriously is. I just don't think it can be used to prove quantity of injury for certain positions. If anything, I think it hammers the importance of acquiring a non-RBBC RB w/o an injury history.

You misinterpretted what I had researched on RB and the fantasy playoffs. None of the guys I used in the study were really RBBC guys and they flip flopped who had more carries later in the year. They were cases where a guy not expected to be a starting RB in Week 1 ended up getting A HUGE percentage of the workload by the end of the year for whatever reason.As far as WR production of a WR3 stepping in, I ccan't prove it but I suspect that the WR1 on that team would get a lot more targets over the WR3. There's nothing to ensure that the WR3 would be extremely productive either. Sometimes it happens (Engram or Jurevicius in SEA come to mind), but there are SO MANY WR that actually are available that can contribute that having a WR3 in the hopes that a WR1 or WR2 gets hurt is a wasted roster spot unless your league allows for a lot of extra players.

As I see it, if WR1 goes down the WR2 would get a lot more production and the WR3 *COULD* be productive (and IMO would be worth plucking off of waivers). If the WR2 were to go down, the WR1 would get a big bump and again the WR3 *COULD* be productive.

The difference between replacement RB and replacement WR is that normally the replacement RB gets almost all the fantasy production. A replacement WR could just get a small piece and it's far from a sure thing that he would be worth starting (let alone a roster spot).

Maybe there are a lot more examples of WR3 that went nuts when they got a chance to play, but I can't think of many. Another possibility would be in larger leagues (say 16 teams), in which case it might actually make some sense.

 

[Captain Quinoa]

IMO, a guy like Bryant Johnson is the WR equivalent of a Dee Brown in KC, Maurice Morris in SEA or Ladell Betts in WAS.

Agree. Wouldn't draft any of them.

 

[Marc Levin]

IMO, a guy like Bryant Johnson is the WR equivalent of a Dee Brown in KC, Maurice Morris in SEA or Ladell Betts in WAS. 

Agree. Wouldn't draft any of them.

 

[Captain Quinoa]

IMO, a guy like Bryant Johnson is the WR equivalent of a Dee Brown in KC, Maurice Morris in SEA or Ladell Betts in WAS. 

Agree. Wouldn't draft any of them.

laughing with me or at me?

 

[Marc Levin]

IMO, a guy like Bryant Johnson is the WR equivalent of a Dee Brown in KC, Maurice Morris in SEA or Ladell Betts in WAS. 

Agree. Wouldn't draft any of them.

laughing with me or at me?

laughing at the comment - thought it was funnee.

 

[Captain Quinoa]

IMO, a guy like Bryant Johnson is the WR equivalent of a Dee Brown in KC, Maurice Morris in SEA or Ladell Betts in WAS. 

Agree. Wouldn't draft any of them.

laughing with me or at me?

laughing at the comment - thought it was funnee.

oh good

 

[Chase Stuart]

One problem. If Fitz or Boldin goes down, then the beneficiary will be the other WR, not BJ. Look at the numbers last year, when Boldin went down.

In the only game Bryant Johnson played without Boldin last season he had 6/66/1.

 

[Weiner Dog]

IMO, a guy like Bryant Johnson is the WR equivalent of a Dee Brown in KC, Maurice Morris in SEA or Ladell Betts in WAS.

Agree. Wouldn't draft any of them.

How are the "8-team, start 7 plus a kicker & defense" leagues this year?? I hear you can add on the StatTracker for $9.99.

 

[Captain Quinoa]

IMO, a guy like Bryant Johnson is the WR equivalent of a Dee Brown in KC, Maurice Morris in SEA or Ladell Betts in WAS. 

Agree. Wouldn't draft any of them.

How are the "8-team, start 7 plus a kicker & defense" leagues this year?? I hear you can add on the StatTracker for $9.99.

gonna have to go a lot deeper than that to get to Bryant Johnson.

here's a free fantasy tip from uncle mike: draft guys who will actually play and score.

 

[Marc Levin]

IMO, a guy like Bryant Johnson is the WR equivalent of a Dee Brown in KC, Maurice Morris in SEA or Ladell Betts in WAS. 

Agree. Wouldn't draft any of them.

How are the "8-team, start 7 plus a kicker & defense" leagues this year?? I hear you can add on the StatTracker for $9.99.

???BJ is barely draftable in 12-team, 15-16 roster limit leagues as a WR6. He should be drafted in any dynasty league

 

[azcards33]

I was listening to one of the local radio stations out here a few days ago, either Xtra Sports 910 or KDUS 1060, and they happened to be talking about Bryant Johnson. Basically what they were saying is this:

Many are expecting Johnson to have a 'breakout' season and Johnson has been working very hard and taking practices and workouts very seriously this offseason. They say that he realizes that he has been somewhat of a disappontment thusfar and that Anquan was drafted a round later then he was, and that he really wants to step up and be a contributing member of the offense. They added though that Johnson dropped the first three passes thrown to him that day though too

They went on to say that they didn't feel that Johnson really needs to go out and put up great numbers this season, they just feel he needs to improve and put up decent numbers.

I'll let you know if i hear anything else

 

[Weiner Dog]

Fitz went down with a hamstring injury in the 1st. Johnson takes over and goes for 6-82. Earlier reports indicate that Fitz's injury could be serious.

Could get interesting for BJ...