By The fans
Posted Aug 15, 2008
Open your ears! You’re about to hear the Voice of the Fan. This week three lucky members of our Warpaint Illustrated.com forums voice their opinion on Larry Johnson, Turk McBride and the Chiefs’ middle linebacker situation. Listen up!
True or False: Larry Johnson is back to form. Training camp reports indicated he looked good and he showed no ill effects from his foot injury last week in Chicago.
True. If, by back to form, you mean falling down on initial contact, then absolutely, he is back to form. I have never seen a 6-foot-1, 230-pound man fall down on initial contact so much. Larry continuously gets tackled by cornerbacks that have no business even attempting to tackle him. It's so frustrating to watch as he tap dances to the hole, finally hits the hole, gains three yards, and then gets arm tackled by a guy the size of Benny Sapp.
Don't you guys remember when Larry first started getting snaps in games? He was an absolute beast that delivered the blow to the defenders. Now, he runs like Jamal Lewis - he stutter steps up to the line after receiving the ball and then just falls down a majority of the time. He is constantly running into fallen linemen and defenders, also.
Now I'm not saying that after he got that contract, he "diva'd" up a little bit, but I don't see any other explanation here. The way that Larry ran last year compared to the way Kolby Smith ran was night and day. Kolby came in and easily ran with more authority than Larry did. I may be off base here, but I don't think I'm the only one who sees this.
Ben – Columbia, MO
True or False: The fact that Turk McBride was elevated to starting left defensive end over Alfonso Boone is a sign he's maturing as a player and ready to make good on his draft position.
True: Alfonso Boone was not getting it done against the Bears. I was expecting some sort of bull rush driving the right tackle into the quarterback. Alfonso was pretty much stonewalled at the line of scrimmage, and that’s just not going to cut it.
I think Turk being elevated to the starting left defensive end spot was more out of Alfonso struggling more than anything. I hope Turk proves me wrong, because the Chiefs really need him to step up his game and be a force. I'm still feeling he will just go down in history as another poor second-round pick for the Chiefs.
Travis – Hoxie, KS
True or False: The Chiefs' situation at middle linebacker is a mess. Napoleon Harris has disappeared and Pat Thomas is a nobody.
False. Why does it have to be a mess? Harris was traded for Randy Moss a few years ago, and then Moss was traded for a 4th round pick. He's been a journeyman his NFL career, and his 'athleticism' was supposed to give us hope, but he didn't feel like listening to his coaches.
Maybe if he would have done that from the start, he'd still be in Oakland and going to the Pro Bowl, but I don't think he'll ever reach that landmark in his career, unless he gets a 'coachable' make-over in the attitude department. False. The only thing that is a mess is Napoleon Harris.
Keenan – Auburn, NE
