Two years ago, Rudi Johnson rushed for 1308 yards and 12 TD. In the two seasons before that, he rushed for at least 1450 yards and 12 scores. Today, he’s unemployed.
…the Bengals cleared out right tackle Willie Anderson, running back Rudi Johnson, and cornerback Deltha O’Neal on Cutdown Day to get down to the 53-player limit.
They all made Hawaii in 2005 as the Bengals celebrated the AFC North title. Johnson’s 1,458 yards and O’Neal’s 10 interceptions in that season are still in the book as club records.
“Obviously the play fell off in ’07, and we just haven’t seen a lot of change thus far this year,” said head coach Marvin Lewis in a late afternoon news conference. “It’s a hard decision to make.”
Even though he returned to practice last week, the Bengals apparently decided they hadn’t seen enough of the new and improved Johnson this summer and cut the man projected to once be their bell-cow running back in 2008.
It’s amazing how over-the-hill the 28 year-old Johnson seems right now. He had 1039 carries from 2004-2006, and it appears that they really took their toll. If he can get healthy, he can probably help someone, but for now he’ll join former top fiver Shaun Alexander in the ranks of the unemployed.
From a fantasy point of view, this is a big upgrade for Chris Perry (the current “starter”) and Kenny Watson. Perry has had his own injury problems in the past, so if you can grab both players, do so. Watson has always been productive when given the chance.
