How will Rudi Johnson do this year?

Question

I picked him up in the 10th round of my fantasy league. Do you think he will be recovered from his injury/down season? Can he be a 1200 yard 10 TD back? I want to use him as trade bait for a wide receiver like Colston, what do you think?

Answer 1

I admit Rudi Johnson had one disappointing year but he could comeback at some point this season. Even though he's working back into shape, the constant workload he had from 2004-2006 might have took a toll last season and head coach Marvin Lewis is considering platooning Rudi with Kenny Watson and Chris Perry to reduce his carries in order to keep him healthy. He can become the comeback kid but Watson had a spectacular season in place of Johnson in 2007, so I wouldn't count on big number for Johnson this season.

At this point, you can at least get a Marvin Harrison, Calvin Johnson, or Roddy White for Johnson if you need options at WR.

Answer 2

as long as there D is terrible there O will always be good.  They may split rbs this year, they wouldnt have so many decent back ups if they didnt plan for that some year.  Rudi will be a 18-24 ranked back. but there D still sucks so he has a chance of being a top 10.

Answer 3

The guy above me may know more than I do but Rudi is at the age where RBs start slowing down.....way down.  It's hard for me to envision him bouncing back this late in his career.  Cinc. has Perry back and healthy and they still have Watson who did well for awhile last year.

Answer 4

Hi inexperienced,

Johnson will definitely put up better numbers in 2008 than 2007, if he can stay healthy. A hamstring injury put Johnson out of commission in 2007, but word out of camp is that he has completely healed.

I wouldn't expect Johnson to be a stud this year, but I think he could be a serviceable #2 back. You only concern with Johnson is that he lose significant carries to Watson and Irons, which is what most people are saying will happen.

Johnson was putting up 1400 yards and 12TDs in his heyday, but I'm not sure he can reach those numbers again with Watson stealing carries.  At best, I'd think Johnson would put up 1000 yards and 8TDs.  Coming off an injury I don't think you should expect much more.

Whether or not you should trade for Colston depends on the other RBs currently on your roster.   If you have 2 good backs besides Johnson, then I'd pull the trigger as Colston is a top 6 WR, Johnson is  nowhere near that.  If you don't have 2 good backs, stick with Johnson and take a chance that he'll get the lion's share of the carries.

I have Rudi ranked 29th among all RBs.  On the site in my source list, you can also create your own RB rankings using drag and drop, then generate a printable cheat sheet based on your own rankings. It's free.

Answer 5

CBSSports.com Senior Writer Clark Judge reports that Bengals coach Marvin Lewis is counting on big things from Bengals RB Rudi Johnson in 2008. Judge reports that Lewis will call for a return to an aggressive running game now that Johnson is over last year's hamstring issues. "Rudi had an outstanding offseason," said Lewis, "and he's gone back and rededicated himself to make sure his body is in shape. He's coming back from a hamstring injury, and people don't understand how (damaging) that can be. From what I've seen this spring, he's done a good job with that. You see quickness in his cuts and things like that, and he's stronger than he's ever been. Rudi's always been a hard worker, but this year I think he really wants to prove that what happened last year was because of his injury. He wants to dispel the rumors and prove that the lack of production was more through injury than it was, say, his ability to make people miss or breaking through tackles."

But I would bring in Colston anyway