Mr. Underrated

[Free Bagel]

Am I missing something here, or are people vastly underrating Rudi Johnson?

All this guy did last year was put up 1454yds rushing with 12 TD's against the toughest rushing schedule I've seen in years. Sure, he doesn't catch passes, but who needs to when you've got near 1500yds and 12 TD's just on the ground?

I mean, look at some of the games he had to go through (rank against the run in parenthesis):

Pittsburgh x2 (1)
Washington (2)
Denver (4)
NYJ (5)
New England (6)
Buffalo (7)
Baltimore x2 (8)
Dallas (10)
Philly (16)

That's right, 10 of his 16 games came against top 10 rushing defenses, and 5 of them came against top 5 rushing defenses, and he STILL put up 1500yds and 12 TD's on the ground.

No other runner in the league even came CLOSE to that schedule. Sure, he'll play Pitt/Balti twice again next year, but it's nearly impossible for his out of division rushing schedule to be that tough again (it was almost straight down the list of top rushing D's last year).

He's 25 so age isn't a concern. And everyone makes the point for KJ that he's in a "young up and coming offense," yet no one makes the same point for Rudi even though I think he's in a better young up and coming offense. I look at them as similar at WR with Cinci not having to deal with Harrington, and having a better line.

Yet he still seems to be falling to the mid-2nd round in most mocks, half a round or more behind guys like Green, Dillon, KJ, JJ, Westbrook, and Portis who did less or the same with a much easier schedule and have other concerns of their own.

He's gotta be one of the most underrated guys in the early going of drafts.

[CC]

For real, Rudi is being totally ignored this year and should be a very good value pick, especially if you can team him with Edge/McGahee/Priest.

[Horizons]

You're absolutely right, RJ is going under many people's radar this off-season...good call there.

PS: Could we please keep this on the low-low??

[mtryanks12]

I agree. He hasn't been talked about much, and could be a great value pick if he goes at the end of the 2nd round in a 10 teamer or later.

[Bennett4prez]

I like Rudi this year, but I probably won't be the team that drafts him this season. Too many questions on Carson Palmer and how they are going to implement Chris Perry. If Rudi falls to the bottom of his teir, I'll give him a look, but with the Bengals, you just don't know.

Nice read!

[no1cowboysfan]

I like Rudi this year, but I probably won't be the team that drafts him this season. Too many questions on Carson Palmer and how they are going to implement Chris Perry. If Rudi falls to the bottom of his teir, I'll give him a look, but with the Bengals, you just don't know.

Nice read!

Bingo...

the inevitable Chris Perry question always pops up. Now that the Perry factor is all about quelled, I am sure you'll find Rudi in the late first in most mocks this year.

Another point you bring up... Perry is in an up-and-coming young offense with a good line. Ding Ding Ding! We have a winner! Rudi is in a good offense with a good run system (remember Dillon? Me too) and a GOOD LINE (a VASTLY underrated one, at that, as RayVins will tell you... he's still giving me crap for when I said he was full of it for saying the same thing last year). Bengals making Rudi a top RB is the same way Denver made Quentin so good, or KC made Blaylock so good. Am I saying he is of their caliber, or worse? No, he is easily the most talented of those three... he's a fairly decent back. But he's no LT/SA/Priest/Edge...

[MeShawn]

I agree, Perry is a definate problem. He has great talent and the Bengals aren't going to waste him. Before the draft last year, he was right up there with Jackson and Jones, but got stuck in a bad situation.

Just imagine one of the big 3 this year ending up in Houston behind DD.

He's coming back from hernia surgery that kept him out of the end of last season. He won't be the starter this year, but he or Rudi will be traded in '06.

80%-20% RBBC this year in Cincinatti. It's not going to be huge, but enough to put a dent into Rudi's carries. 1,250 yards and 9 TD's for Rudi. Still very respectable numbers, and is appropriate value for where he's going now. I wouldn't take him any earlier or later.

Perry will get something like 350 yards, 2 TD's.

[RayVins]

I like Rudi this year, but I probably won't be the team that drafts him this season. Too many questions on Carson Palmer and how they are going to implement Chris Perry. If Rudi falls to the bottom of his teir, I'll give him a look, but with the Bengals, you just don't know.

Nice read!

Bingo...

the inevitable Chris Perry question always pops up. Now that the Perry factor is all about quelled, I am sure you'll find Rudi in the late first in most mocks this year.

Another point you bring up... Perry is in an up-and-coming young offense with a good line. Ding Ding Ding! We have a winner! Rudi is in a good offense with a good run system (remember Dillon? Me too) and a GOOD LINE (a VASTLY underrated one, at that, as RayVins will tell you... he's still giving me crap for when I said he was full of it for saying the same thing last year). Bengals making Rudi a top RB is the same way Denver made Quentin so good, or KC made Blaylock so good. Am I saying he is of their caliber, or worse? No, he is easily the most talented of those three... he's a fairly decent back. But he's no LT/SA/Priest/Edge...

this is true. the o-line means everything here because if you put a fat RB with OK speed like rudi johnson behind a line that doesnt block he never has room to gather that momentum that alows him to blow through tackles...

that coupled with warrick and johnson in the secondary always having to be covered, you have, basically, a poor man's version of DEN's OL and IND's pass game in the same offense. you have to defend both and somewhere in between you let rudi johnson slip through for 1500...

[RayVins]

and as for perry:

he just suffered a hernia so count him out for most of the season.

the ravens had to go through it with baxter and not only did he sit out for ahwile but it hindered his speed permanently...

[MeShawn]

and as for perry:

he just suffered a hernia so count him out for most of the season.

the ravens had to go through it with baxter and not only did he sit out for ahwile but it hindered his speed permanently...

Source?


The Cincinnati Enquirer seems to disagree.


Mar. 17, 2005 - 11:43 am et

Bengals coach Marvin Lewis refuted reports that Chris Perry has undergone a second sports hernia surgery.
''The doctors said they did everything they had to do,'' Lewis said, talking about a January surgery. Perry may not be ready to start offseason workouts, but Lewis believes he'll be ready for June minicamp.
Source: Cincinnati Enquirer