The Kansas City Chiefs are really young behind Larry Johnson on the depth chart so they need him to return to glory in 2008.  Two things will likely hurt Johnson in 2008:  1.)  He needs to recover from off season surgery and 2.)  The Chiefs need to throw the ball more often on early downs or Johnson will get beat up again and the Chiefs QB situation is bleak for 2008.  Johnson played in 8 games (all starts) last season for the Chiefs and he carried the ball 158 times for 559 yards (3.5 ypc) with 3 TD runs.  He also caught 30 passes for 186 yards (6.2 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Look for Johnson to rebound somewhat with 1,000+ yards rushing in 2008 but don’t expect miracles.  Johnson has now played in 56 games (36 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 1,050 times for 4,764 yards (4.5 ypc) with 50 TD runs.  He has also caught 127 passes for 1,219 yards (9.6 avg) with 6 TD grabs.

Kolby Smith was a rookie last season and he played pretty well under the circumstances last season.  Smith played in 16 games (6 starts) last season for the Chiefs and he carried the ball 112 times for 407 yards (3.6 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  He also caught 22 passes for 148 yards (6.7 avg).  Smith will have a battle on his hands to remain the #2 RB on the depth chart as the Chiefs drafted Jamaal Charles of Texas to compete for the job.

Jamaal Charles is good enough to start if something happens to Larry Johnson.  He shouldn’t have much of a problem beating out Kolby Smith for the #2 slot at RB.  He played in 13 games (all starts) for the Texas Longhorns last season and he carried the ball 258 times for 1,619 yards (6.3 ypc) with 18 TD runs.  Don’t expect numbers like that in the NFL but make no mistake Charles will be a solid running back in this league.

Jackie Battle will be the #4 RB on the Chiefs if they want to keep that many.  He played in 3 games (0 starts) as a rookie last season for the Chiefs and he carried the ball 14 times for 47 yards (3.4 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also caught 1 pass for 4 yards.  Don’t expect much out of Battle unless the Chiefs suffer a lot of injuries at running back.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON:  B-

The Kansas City Chiefs are banking that this will be the season that Brodie Croyle steps up and leads the offense.  Croyle has a good enough arm to make all of the throws needed to succeed in the NFL.  But, he is not the most mobile QB around and he was very injury prone in college.  Croyle will have to beat out Damon Huard for the starting job and if he can’t….the Chiefs will need to draft another QB of the future next April.  Croyle played in 9 games (6 starts) last season for the Chiefs and he completed 127 of 224 passes (56.7%) for 1,227 yards with 6 TD passes and 6 interceptions (69.9 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 7 times for 18 yards (2.6 ypc).  The Chiefs probably should have brought in another QB just in case Croyle has trouble.  You would have expected Herman Edwards to want more competition for Croyle this off season with his job probably on the line in 2008.  Croyle has now played in 11 games (6 starts) in his major league career and he has completed 130 of 231 passes (56.3%) for 1,250 yards with 6 TD passes and 8 interceptions (65.8 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 10 times for 15 yards (1.5 ypc).

Veteran Damon Huard just couldn’t recapture the magic touch he had in 2006 last year.  He lost the starting job to Brodie Croyle late last season and there have been whispers that the Chiefs like 2nd year QB Tyler Thigpen more than Huard now…..and that must be a joke.  Huard played in 11 games (10 starts) last season for the Chiefs and he completed 206 of 332 passes (62%) for 2,257 yards with 11 TD passes and 13 interceptions (76.8 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 9 times for -1 yard (-0.1 ypc).  Huard doesn’t have much left but he can still manage a game if called upon.  He has now played in 59 games (24 starts) in his NFL career and he completed 524 of 865 passes (60.6%) for 5,826 yards with 31 TD passes and 22 interceptions (82.0 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 48 times for 135 yards (2.8 ypc).

2nd year man Tyler Thigpen will battle Damon Huard for the #2 QB job but the Chiefs would be smart to let him spend another season as the #3 man where he can watch and learn.  Thigpen played in 1 game (0 starts) for the Chiefs last season and he completed 2 of 6 passes (33.3%) for 41 yards with 0 TD passes and 1 interception (18.7 QB Rating).  He did not run the ball last season.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON:  D

Mike Merritt is a glorified tackle playing TE.  He is 6′3″, 270 pounds and his game is blocking in the running game.  He played in 45 games (30 starts) at Central Florida and he caught 17 passes for 201 yards (11.8 avg).  He will have a good chance to make the team if he helps out on special teams.

Brian Johnston came to Gardner Webb as a linebacker but he put on quite a bit of weight.  He is now 6′5″, 276 pounds and he really dominated in college.  Johnston played in 42 games (40 starts) at Gardner Webb and he made 268 tackles, had 21 sacks, 55.5 tackles for a loss, forced 10 fumbles and recovered 3 fumbles.  If he can handle the jump in competition the Chiefs might have something here.

Kevin Robinson stands at 5′11″, 197 pounds and he runs a 4.5 40.  The Chiefs drafted him because of his special teams ability as he returned 9 kickoffs & punts for TDs in college.  Still, he didn’t play against top notch competition at Utah State so it will be interesting to see how he responds in Training Camp.  He could also stick as a #4 or #5 receiver as a rookie for the Chiefs.