Coach Charles Johnson?

[Mr. Miyagi]

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Former Buffalo Bills receiver Charles Johnson is considering retirement and the possibility of becoming a coach.

"I'm leaving my options open," Johnson said on Thursday, the second day he spent helping coach Bills receivers in practice. He added he would spend the rest of the week with the team, including traveling to Kansas City for Buffalo's game on Sunday.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=1645178

That's probably not a bad move, since when he was a player he was nothing more than just "veteran leadership" anyways. Now he can concentrate on being just that and gets paid less for it.

[BF_in_Indiana]

I think Johnson could teach our young WRs a few things. He was a good route runner and very smart on the field. I think he could be a good coach for us. I would like to see us sign him in some form as a coach.

[TigerJ]

Not that I dispute your contention, BF, but if Johnson was such a good route runner why wasn't he ever more of a factor in the Bills offence? or in his whole career for that matter. He was a first round draft choice who never lived up to his potential by a long shot. He was not a burner, I know, but he wasn't the slowest WR in the NFL by a long shot, and presumably had pretty good hands. So why was he a career underachiever? Can an underachiever make a good coach?

[BF_in_Indiana]

Charles had a very good career in Pittsburgh. Age just caught up with him. Check his numbers with the Steelers in the mid '90's. He wasn't a part of our offense because we hae a younger version of him in Reed and with Shaw coming in he was no longer needed. It's just a numbers game in the NFL.

[RedEyE]

If Charles johnson retires then no one needs to be cut to make room for McGahee.

[TigerJ]

Johnson was cut before the season so he's not on the roster. BF, Johnson had one season where he had more than 1000 yards in Pittsburgh, 1008 in 1996 on 60 catches. His second best season was 1998, 815 yards on 65 catches. His numbers in Pittsburgh weren't bad numbers, but when a guy is a first round pick I expect something better than "not bad." Therefore, in my book, he's an underachiever.

[helmetguy]

Remember where he spent most of his career: Pussburgh! Throughout the '90's, they were a smash-mouth, grind it out on the ground offense (after they canned Joe Walton as OC). WRs just weren't gonna put up huge numbers there, particularly when Bubby Brister was at the helm.