MVN - Most Valuable Network

Kolby Smith is no Larry Johnson

My my, how fickle Chiefs’ fans can be. Kolby Smith lights it up for two games and all of a sudden, there is a running back controversy for next season.

Laughable.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a big Kolby Smith fan. I have been nothing but impressed at how well the kid has run. He seems to show tremendous vision out there. But c’mon, folks, have we already forgotten that LJ went into the season as one of the top 5 running backs in the game? Are we that short-sighted that we think LJ will no longer be productive?

MYTH #1: Kolby is making a lot more noise with the same pieces

False. This is an entirely different team than the one LJ played with. Rudy Niswanger hasn’t been a revelation, but he is a significant upgrade over Welbourn. Keep in mind that most of LJ’s games were played with Welbourn paving the way. Scratch that, with Welbourn frequently getting bull-rushed into the backfield. I also think Boomer has been a significant upgrade for the Chiefs’ running game. He is more of a pure blocking fullback. LJ never had that. Kris Wilson was a very below average blocking fullback.

More importantly, are people really forgetting to include that when LJ was in the game, literally nine to ten defenders were stacking the line to stop him? There were games where I even saw the entire defense stacking the line and then Solari, with his fine wisdom, still managed to run a play that ran directly into that 11-man front. It was like a fisherman sending a boat into a hurricane; a driver trying to send his car through a garage door instead of opening it first; a moron that repeatedly tries to run through a brick wall to break it down. Kolby doesn’t see nearly that same defensive focus on stacking the line.

So if we’re playing the blame game, blame Mike Solari for running on obvious running downs and for repeatedly calling inside runs. Blame Herm Edwards for refusing to give his quarterback the authority to change plays at the line of scrimmage, even when the quarterback sees 10 or more defenders stacking the box. Blame both Herm and Solari for thinking Welbourn was the answer and especially for thinking that they didn’t need a blocking fullback.

Myth #2: LJ was a product of the offensive line

False. Let’s not forget that this offensive line is about the same as it was last year. Shields was at the downside of his career and, granted, his replacement, John Welbourn was a disaster. But the Chiefs had the same revolving door of useless right tackles, as they had last season, and McIntosh is an upgrade over Black. This offensive line is not much different from last season. Yet, LJ was very successful last season, but he was only mildly successful this season. So LJ can certainly play behind a bad offensive line, but this offensive line had a ton of problems early on that even Barry Sanders  couldn’t have worked his way out of: a four-lane highway on the right side with Welbourn and Terry, a less than 80% healthy McIntosh, a completely discontinuous offensive line in general, and a lousy blocking fullback. As the offensive line improved from atrocious to bad, LJ’s play began to improve markedly.

But still, the recurring theme is, LJ still could not overcome nightmarishly bad playcalling.

Myth #3: LJ stopped caring after he got his big contract

Judging by the number of times he spiked the ball on the field in frustration, this simply cannot be true. He had to have been very frustrated. Funny thing is, he complained about poor playcalling early in the season and was labelled a whiner; now other offensive players are complaining about the same exact thing and it’s suddenly become okay.

LJ was crippled by horrendous playcalling. Now, if we want to talk contracts, I certainly agree that LJ’s holdout was a big reason why he underperformed this season. While his teammates were learning a new offense, LJ was at home. LJ also wasn’t getting the in-game reps he needed to prepare for the season. So LJ dug his own grave, but he’s not going to dig it ever again.

So all you fickle fans who have already thrown the towel on LJ, let’s be realistic here. Kolby Smith has proven over two games that he is a solid running back, but LJ has proven over two years that he is one of the elite. He is still a tough runner with 4.4 speed. Give him an offensive coordinator that isn’t going to moronically run the ball inside against a 10-man front over and over and over again. Give him an offensive line that isn’t going to let defenders go through like a matador holding a cape in front of a raging bull. It’s not asking for much. I’m not necessarily asking for those replacements to be elite. But if you give him semi-competent people in front with an at least somewhat able coordinator calling in the plays, LJ will be worth every dollar of his contract and Kolby Smith will go back to being a terrific #2 back.

I guarantee that LJ will leave no doubt in 2008 why he is getting paid the big bucks.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 6th, 2007 at 9:44 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.