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Chris Johnson Jr. season outlook

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DTP said:
He’s a gadget play guy right now. They have to get him the ball in space because he’s not the kind of player who can find creases and running lanes. That’s why he didn’t play last year and will likely be a fourth option this year. His speed makes him dangerous on screens but it’s also a huge tip off to the defense when he comes into the game. He can’t run between the tackles and he can’t pass block so anytime CJJ is in, it’s got to be some kind of screen or toss to him in the open. He will get his chances against FAMU and Ball State. If he can maximize those chances, he’ll get more burn. If not expect to see him fall down the depth chart. I thought Wheatley Humphrey looked better in the spring game.
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that is what I said, Wheatley looked better but this board can figure out what Mario cant. Dont worry, they have the playbooks they learned from madden that will work.
 
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BeachCanes said:
Was watching his HS tapes and the guy is a legit RB besides the track numbers. Do you guys think we'll get him involved? I'm not a big fan of Dawson at all so it would be a massive letdown if this kid doesn't get touches and pure speculation on my part but I can see him transferring after this year if we don't get him involved. He should get at least 10 touches against the cupcake teams like FAMU and Ball St. I like Mark Fletcher a lot but don't think he's a gamechanger at RB.
Also, is there any reason to why he shouldn't be returning kick offs?

So, what's the outlook for Chris Johnson this season?
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Out of curiosity, what do you really know about Dawson?
I've seen a few express their feelings about him, especially not positive
I don't really know a lot, outside of one season.

So what is it that you don't like?
 
I'm sure Chris Johnson Jr has a lot of aspects he can still improve upon, and he needs to work hard at them. And maybe he hasn't been the most impressive over spring. But that is pretty meaningless to me. What we need from Chris Johnson is not some great consistency at 6ypc EVERY carry or some grinder, which is kinda what spring ball is about. We need a guy who when he comes in is a threat in the receiving game, can pick up in the 4-5 ypc range in general, but most importantly has like 2-4 15+ yard runs in him per game. I was never a fan of Camron Harris because imo he was too hit and miss - either 60 yard run or 2 yard run. CJjr has that 60 yard run capability, but all he needs is to try not to get too cute dancing behind the line and just be a guy that you can trust will hit the gap as fast as he can and pick up 4 yards - and if our great Oline blocked well he'll be at 10-15 yards in the blink of an eye. Great OL + elite passing attack is going to be CJjrs best friend. Plus we can use Martinez (and next year Fletcher) to grind teams down too.

Ultimately he has an elite trait - speed. I'm not someone who thinks world-class sprinting speed ALONE is the most important thing at RB - especially if its long speed and not paired with great acceleration/burst. In general I don't think being the absolute fastest generally makes for the BEST RBs. BUT it can make for extremely useful RBs especially as a pairing to a guy like Martinez and Fletcher. Having said that, there is a pretty strong relation imo to speed score and success (so weight adjusted speed) at RB. This means you can't be a 170lb Blazer at RB, you won't have the necessary strength to run through gaps. That's why these types end up at WR. But if He can get to a playing weight of 190lbs or ideally 195lbs, I really think most of his problems will just work themselves out or the downside will be well worth him seeing a lot of reps anyways. Right now he's listed at 180lbs, which is fine - and probably the minimum he needs to be at. But add another 10lbs and his elite speed and good enough strength will make him a productive asset.

Also there isn't a position I'd be more confident about a guy just being a gamer than RB. A dude with just pure talent can just be good, regardless what the negatives appear in practice. At the end of the day do you want this guy with the ball in his hands or not?
 
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nycane said:
Just because someone is fast he doesn’t mean they can’t be a liability. In speed you didn’t even notice him. The other freshmen rb Wheatley stood out more.
You guys think Mario is like I have a kid with elite speed. Let me find ways to keep
Him off the field?
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he played RB in HS what are you alluding too that he is struggling with? Finding the holes/vision, what I talked about with pass blocking, or just not able to remember every single play?

Kid should be seeing wheel routes, tunnel screens, and some wildcat plays.
 
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S.CarolinaCane said:
Out of curiosity, what do you really know about Dawson?
I've seen a few express their feelings about him, especially not positive
I don't really know a lot, outside of one season.

So what is it that you don't like?
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I’ve been one that has expressed disappointment with him and before I explain i have to say. Dawson isn’t terrible, he is a solid OC that we can win with he has had productive offenses before and i think he will this year with cam.

But my concerns are his offense is too straight up and down, too basic level without many layers. For example all coaches run the same concepts, football has been around for centuries there isn’t many new things being done but the great coaches know how to dress the simple things up to make them difficult to gameplan for.

I don’t think dawson has shown that ability and i had concerns about this before he came here..People blaming it on tvd is just a way to cope imo, I think tvd turned bad plays into disasters which does hurt but to me that was just the tip of the iceberg. After the bye week teams had us all figured out, majority of our tendencies were mapped out.

It became easy for teams to gameplan for us. One of those reasons imo was dawson didn’t marry the run game and pass game together. It looked like someone figuring stuff out on the fly, we saw him try different things at the end of the year in the nc state game then the Louisville game..Nothing ground breaking but he finally started reacting to what the defenses were showing instead of just doing the same ****.

I was thinking maybe he had a tough time adjusting because this was his first time being on his own as an OC without dana since 2018 so maybe he wasn’t fully prepared especially with them making a switch from full air raid to a more balanced attack. So im hoping after a year of film he can expand his toolbox and have a more cohesive offense
 
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