To say that Titans running back Chris Johnson has been overpaid since receiving a six-year, $56 million contract wouldn’t come close to telling the whole story of Johnson’s first three games this season.
The truth is, based on what he’s done so far this year Johnson would be overpaid if he were making the league minimum.
Johnson’s rushing numbers are stunningly awful. Through three games he has 46 carries for 98 yards, an average of 2.1 yards a carry. That’s the lowest yards-per-carry average of any of the 35 NFL players who have more than 25 carries so far this season. Only three of Johnson’s 43 runs have gone for first downs. Although Johnson is supposed to be a big-play back, his longest run all season is nine yards, and he has yet to score a touchdown.
Heading into this season, Johnson had only been held under 25 yards in a game twice in his career. He’s been held under 25 yards in two of his three games this season.
So what’s going wrong? Johnson wrote on Twitter that it’s just a matter of keeping at it until he starts to get more productive.
“Got to keep pushing,” Johnson wrote. “At least we still winning will get this fixed very soon.”
The Titans had better hope they get it fixed very soon. They’ve tied a lot of money up in a player who’s giving them next to nothing in return.