So far, Titans' Johnson looking like a weapon
August 4, 2008 7:31 PM
Posted by ESPN.com's Paul Kuharsky
NASHVILLE -- I still want to see him in some preseason games, but I've already seen enough of Chris Johnson to be impressed. If he stays healthy and catches on reasonably quickly, he can give the Titans dimensions they've long lacked and he can do it in two ways -- as a speedster at running back or lined up as a receiver.
The most striking thing in training camp practices has been how difficult it is for defenders to get a good lick on him.
"I don't want anybody to get a big hit on me, but I know they're going to try to give me their best shot," Johnson said. "I like to make people miss and break tackles. And I'm prepared to deliver a big blow back."
At some practices, defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz screams "square him up" more often than anything else, and he's not talking about LenDale White or Chris Henry.
"It's hard," Schwartz said. "Once the pads have been on, guys have been lighting some people up pretty good -- except for him. And it's not that they are not trying, it's just that he's slippery. He can glide, he can cut in a hurry and it puts such more stress on your defense as far as angles and things like that. You can't be sloppy at all when you have an explosive player like that."
This morning, Johnson took a pitch and went to the left sideline, turned the corner in a flash and was gone, with no pursuers closing to the sideline fast enough to be able to get him out of bounds. In a lighter practice in the afternoon he collected a little looped pass, sidestepped pursuing linebacker David Thornton, and ate up a chunk of yardage.
But we knew he was a blazer. I didn't imagine he would be so hard for a defender to get to when they were facing him up and I wasn't sure what to expect between the tackles, where he's looked as good as he has on the outside.
"His vision is good and there are not a lot of guys squaring him up and getting real good hits on him,'' offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger told The Tennessean. "And when he carried it at East Carolina, he ran between the tackles there and he wasn't playing against the Sisters of the Poor. I don't have any question that he can carry the ball and make good runs.''
Said fullback Ahmard Hall: "Everybody knows he's fast. But he's so deceptively fast because he's so smooth and fluid and just makes guys miss. Once I make my block, if I'm not in there I'm watching him and it's amazing to watch. I can't wait to see what he does in a real game. You're not going to get a clean hit on him. He has great balance, he's going to slide off of it or he'll make you miss in the hole."
He's still stumbles now and then -- he dropped an option pitch today, turning the play into what one observer called "no longer an option." And it's hard to know how well he's soaking up the playbook.
If Johnson continues to improve, though, his role could grow and the amount of touches the Titans want to get him could eat away at the workload of White.
White's not worried.
He's quick to remind people that he peacefully co-existed in the same backfield with a pretty good player at USC. A guy named Reggie Bush.