Chris Johnson Has Been Just One of Many Disappointments For New York Jets

Let these statistics sink in for one moment: eight games in and running back Chris Johnson has yet to eclipse 100 yards rushing in any of them for the New York Jets. He actually had his best game in last Sunday’s loss to Kansas City with 69 yards on 11 carries.

This is a player who rushed for over 2,000 yards in 2009 and has never finished with less than 1,000 yards in every one of his six (completed) NFL seasons. He is also a three-time Pro Bowler and was named the 2009 NFL Offensive Player of the Year.

He did have offseason knee surgery last January to correct an injury he said occurred during Week 3 of the 2013 season, a year in which Johnson did not miss any games.

He has always been known as one of the fastest backs in the league and was even featured on NatGeo’s reality series “Man Vs. Cheetah,” in which Johnson raced the fleet-footed wild animal (and lost, but that’s not the point).

When Jets’ general manager John Idzik signed Johnson to a free agent two-year contract, it was expected that he would join incumbents Chris Ivory and Bilal Powell in Gang Green’s backfield to make it a three-headed monster, helping a young quarterback in Geno Smith with a ball control smashmouth-style offense that head coach Rex Ryan prefers.

Ivory has been the workhorse back with 109 rushes for 497 yards and five touchdowns. Powell, who had been a very serviceable change-of-pace back in the past, has been the forgotten man with a mere 98 yards on 21 attempts.

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For all the hoopla surrounding Johnson, the former standout of the Tennessee Titans has seen his production decline with 337 yards on 78 rushes and a single touchdown.

It even appears that the coaching staff recognizes Johnson’s struggles, as they have tried to move him around to get him more touches. When asked about offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg trying to find potential mismatches in the coverage by putting him on the outside, Johnson stated:

"I just want to get the opportunities wherever they come from. Just get in and try to make plays."

Perhaps that can be a good strategy, as Johnson is the fourth leading receiver on the team with 16 catches for 104 yards and a score. Using his speed out of the backfield is another viable option if it is not clicking in the more conventional way that Johnson had been used.

In the Jets’ opener – and lone win so far this season – it appeared that Johnson was on his way to having one of his usual highly productive seasons. 13 carries for 68 yards and five receptions for 23 yards and a touchdown helped the Jets defeat the still-winless Oakland Raiders 19-14.

But Johnson has topped out with only 13 carries (on two occasions) and has single digit carries in four games. Catching the football, the five against Oakland has been his high water mark, with numbers such as one, two and even zero being next to his name in the box score for receptions the rest of the season.

Certainly not what was expected when number 21 was brought on board.

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