The recent talk of Saquon Barkley and comparisons to former RB's got me thinking of LJ, whose style I recall being very different than Barkley's. I don't have the sharpest eye for football talent, but I remember being surprised LJ was drafted so high. Of course, his NFL success proved me wrong. I recall thinking that LJ didn't MOVE like a running back. He didn't have the shiftiness that Barkley has. Of course, he was very hard to tackle, and I believe his straight-line speed was deceiving, maybe because he was a long strider. He may have also benefited form great offensive lines, both at PSU and KC. I am curious how others evaluate LJ as a running back.
Why Larry Johnson was Great
- Thread starter LionFan87b
- Start date
I think that LJ had one of the intangibles that great RB's tend to have and that is a mean streak. When you couple his nastiness with his physical gifts you get a guy capable of being a good NFL back.
LJ was over six feet tall and weighed 220 or 230. It's tough for a back that big to be shifty. Johnson's bio also said he was credited with 21 tackles and 7 sacks while playing DE at PSU.
A
anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
Guest
I thought he was a big, deceptively fast runner (not elite speed, but rarely caught from behind once he hit the jets) with great vision (really set his blocks up well), patience, leg strength, and a nose for the end zone. He could also literally do it all (run, block, return kicks, block punts, catch passes etc.) and was fantastic on screen plays. Here's a link to some of his highlights - notice how well he sets up his blocks and how much room there is for him to run; he's often barely touched because of how good he is in space and how patient he is with the ball. Also great that everyone on that team could BLOCK!! Look at the WR's (Johnson and Johnson) mixing it up downfield on each and every run and MY GOD WHAT ABOUT PAUL JEFFERSON AND SEAN MCHUGH BARRELING OUT OF THE BACKFIELD AS A FBS??? They were hat on hat every time they lined up. That certainly helped.
Thank you Midnighter, now I remember what PSU football was like! The video made me warm & fuzzy...
maybe the change in life is happening to me?
Boy it was really fun watching these fellows at the Beaver
# 42 was Sean McHugh, a junior in LJ senior year. He was 6'-6", 260#, remember him well
Last edited:
Ahhh the good ole days when we could actually run a screen pass for yardage.
Please, please, please incorporate the "shuffle pass" from Hack to Barkley in the offensive game package.
Also I want to see Zettle in the backfield at least a few times in goal line situations...Yea I'm old school I still think there is a place
for a FB in football.
A
anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
Guest
1) SB is in his first action as a freshman -- he looks good but a lot of backs have looked this good and not panned out. So comparing him to the best backs in PSU history -- especially after a game against an athletically overmatched defense -- may be a bit premature? See if he averages 10ypc against Rutgers.
2) LJ was a totally different back. The only thing they had in common was speed. LJ had tremendous speed but not great acceleration. He was 2-3 inches taller so more of a long strider. I think it is possible Barkley will be quicker but not as fast in the open field (though his speed is quite good). If LJ got to the outside and broke a cornerback's tackle, he was gone. There was no way safeties could catch him. I hope that is true for Barkley but it is unlikely he will be THAT fast. My hunch is he will be more like Silas Redd -- which is to say, the best back PSU has had in a while (when Redd was healthy), but not somebody to run for 2000 yards.
3) LJ was a prima donna in college, very selfish and not a leader from what I could tell. He was on PSU teams that had a lot of talent but were not great teams and didn't win the tough games. I am hoping Barkley will be better in the leadership department, but we will not know until he is a senior.
2) LJ was a totally different back. The only thing they had in common was speed. LJ had tremendous speed but not great acceleration. He was 2-3 inches taller so more of a long strider. I think it is possible Barkley will be quicker but not as fast in the open field (though his speed is quite good). If LJ got to the outside and broke a cornerback's tackle, he was gone. There was no way safeties could catch him. I hope that is true for Barkley but it is unlikely he will be THAT fast. My hunch is he will be more like Silas Redd -- which is to say, the best back PSU has had in a while (when Redd was healthy), but not somebody to run for 2000 yards.
3) LJ was a prima donna in college, very selfish and not a leader from what I could tell. He was on PSU teams that had a lot of talent but were not great teams and didn't win the tough games. I am hoping Barkley will be better in the leadership department, but we will not know until he is a senior.
I don't think people understand just how shifty LJ was mainly becuase his style was more of a standup back.
However if you look at his hips and ability to change direction and speed during a run, it was quite incredible.
His hips you move and his body changes directions but since he stnads straight up his head almost doesn't move.
If you watch closely you'll see what I mean.
However if you look at his hips and ability to change direction and speed during a run, it was quite incredible.
His hips you move and his body changes directions but since he stnads straight up his head almost doesn't move.
If you watch closely you'll see what I mean.
I have no idea if he was a prima donna or not but I disagree that he was on teams with a lot of talent.
The defense was talented but on the offensive side, not so much. The WR's were horrible for most of those years with the exception of Bryant Johnson's sr year and Tony Johnson's Jr. year. Did have a couple of good TE's though. Mills was good but after he hurt his arm/shoulder in the wiscy game he was just ok. The 02 team was better offensively but the years after 99-01 were very, very lean for offensive talent.
mn78.....did Joe move Sean McHugh from a tight end position to FB? I know Joe did that with several TE's during the years.I belive Sean McHugh wore #42. He was the tallest FB in history at 6' 6".
How about the duo FB's in the backfield before this era...Milne & (Webster?) forget the other's, name, like two bulls. I believe both went on to the NFL for a brief period.
The 2002 team had SIX players taken in the 1st and 2nd rounds of the NFL draft. That was a record for PSU that I think still stands. THREE D-linemen -- Adams, Kennedy and Haynes.
2001 and 2002 teams were actually loaded with 4 star type prospects. Most of them didn't become 4 star college players though. Lots of names like Shamar Finney and Chris McKelvy and Eddie Drummond.
There was really a lot more talent on the Dark Years teams than people think. The fact that those teams lost so much was undoubtedly on the coaching staff.
eng69, The 94 team had Brian Milne and Jon Whitman. The 3rd fullback, I believe, was Jason Sload? He could pull a horse plow too. In any event, when PSU was in the goal line O in 94, they would just put one of those bruisers in motion, let the other team know that we're just running it down your throat, and proceed to run it down their collective throat. Just beautiful. Of course, the OL and TE were pretty good blockers too. Not to mention that the backs were great.
Yea the 02 team did have some talent but it it was still mostly on the defensive side.
I know that some of them were rated pretty high but I'm not convinced they were overly talented. Eddie Drummond couldn't cacth a cold but he could run like the wind. McKelvy and a lot of other O-lineman never did pan out. IIRC thats when most of us were questioning the S&C and Anderson so you could be right about not being coached up.
My thought of LJ was that he had great RB vision. He was a good athlete; big and strong and fast. But what separated him was his vision. That included an odd patience where he hesitated at the line and let blocking develop in front of him. Then he accelerated. I always felt like he got the most he could out of any run.
Yea, what I wouldn't give to have a TE that can block like Kyle Brady. I don't think he gave up a tackle against the really good DE from Illinois for 2 years. Maybe Bowers will be that guy. Mike G. still has a lot of blocking "issues".
Kyle Brady was nails. Never forget the way he manhandled Simeon Rice.
watch this video, relative to today. People bitch about our OC running 5 plays. LJ has a highlight tape for 13 real minutes, running about 5 plays!! He ran the toss, the lead option, a draw (from the I and split backs, still the same play) throw in 2 pass plays, (screens, and playaction where he is the receiver) and there you go!!! You can run an offense with 5 plays!!
YES....Whitman thank you all.....now I won't spend the rest of the day trying to remember the second full back....I guess I could research the net, but......
what are friends for
..... They also had passing plays.....
Donovan ran 5-6 plays TOTAL. Over the course of one game. That's a joke and it's pathetic you're trying to justify it...
maybe it will take you a while to believe this, but it aint the X's and O's , its the Jimmys and the Joes!!! We don't have enough of them, how many drops by the Rec/TE's did we have??
CFB coaches know this all too well. An old friend was a WVU booster. He told me that Don Nehlen at whatever is/was WVU's version of the Quarterback Club openly lamented about what it was like to face Penn State when a lot of the guys on the PSU sideline were the guys he had recruited and wanted in WVU unis.
BB I assume that's TIC, and if so you sound like Marshawn Lynch's mom....
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on...om-wants-seahawks-offensive-coordinator-fired
No that wasn't TIC at all. I really didn't think the play calling was bad.
We had Hack back under center, we ran some counters, we ran a toss sweep, we pulled a guard a couple of times. Was it great? No I'd still like to see some quick slants but maybe we don't have the personal to run them...Yet.
If you listened to Jack on the radio he repeatedly said the plays are there we just need the lineman to make them. Stay on their blocks longer was his biggest complaint.
I have a feeling we will be seeing SB earlier and more often. It will be interesting to see how the offense moves with him in there.
I'd also like to see what Juwan Johnson can bring to the table.
And please TE's catch the ball and block someone...anyone.
Last edited:
okay I agree, I like Hack under center as well, and I think we should play him there even more. (as a side note, I wish the Eagles would put their QB under center, at least 25 % of the time, maybe then they could make a 3-1 when it counted) Catching the ball will help.
And please TE's catch the ball and block someone...anyone.
Just one or the other, not even both. Both would be nice though. I think Gesicki just had one of those days. Someone mentioned the other day that he's like Chris Carter in practice. Catches everything.
Please watch the highlight video Midnighter posted. LJ had incredible acceleration, on a number of runs he stops to let the defense over pursue and then accelerates right by them.
LJ has insane balance making it very hard to bring him down, and he had very powerful legs. SB has the balance, but I don't think he has the overall power that LJ had in is legs - yet, and if he gets that power will he be able to retain his explosive acceleration.
LJ was probably the closest we have ever had to a pure running back. He had speed, balance, strength, power, size, and he could catch and block.
Scheme is the most overrated thing in football. Football is about execution and toughness. It doesn't matter how good a scheme is if the other team out executes and out toughs you. You will lose the majority of the time. Presnap penalties, blown assignments etc cause way more problems than not being varied enough.
I don't doubt you at all, and I also believe JoePa's famous quote that what matters is Jimmies and Joes, not X's and O's. But what do you do if you don't have the Jimmies and Joes? What if your players don't execute very well? Do you just give up? Or do you try to overcome it with schemes? BTW, I'm just asking this question in general. I'm not saying Franklin doesn't scheme enough or run enough plays.
Thanks for posting those highlights, Midnighter. Larry Johnson's 2002 season remains one of the most over-looked performances by a running back of all time. And those 279 rushing yards against Michigan State -- IN THE FIRST HALF -- might be the most dominant peformance by anyone in the history of the Big Ten Conference. Beaver Stadium was magic that night.
since I'm now fondly reminiscing about tough strong fullbacks, I wish we had a BranDon Snow on the team.
I am a guy that says to less not more. Have a base and run it!! dont rely on trick plays or tricking them. If plays 1-2-3 dont work, why do you think plays 4-5-6 will??
LJ was in our top 5 backs ever. very hard to get down and prime breakaway speed. a couple defense held him under 100 in college, but not many.
LJ had some kind of problem of being noticed at PSU and KC. I am not sure if he was such a poor practice player, but somehow he got missed by coaches. I think most all his yardage at PSU came in his SR year. he seemed to be behind people for some time who we not even close to his talent level. You cant say this was just a PSU thing either, because it happened in KC too. In fact, I think there were games he was on the sideline at KC in street clothes without an injury. Then that old Texas RB (forget the name) got hurt and LJ was called on. You could see the impact right away. my thought was how did the KC staff miss him??? well the PSU staff missed him too.
