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-