Tennessee Titans RB Chris Johnson is Climbing the Ranks

Nov.11, 2012; Miami, FL, USA; Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson (28) runs against the Miami Dolphins during the second half at Sun Life Stadium. Tennessee won 37-3. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

After struggling early in the year, Tennessee Titans RB Chris Johnson has started his accent to the top once again as he has cracked the top-5 in yards amongst running backs so far this year.

Johnson stands in 4th with 862 yards, just ten yards behind the Houston Texans Arian Foster, who has 872 yards. The top two backs in order are the Minnesota Vikings’ Adrian Peterson with an impressive 1128 yards and the Seattle Seahawks’ Marshawn Lynch with 1005 yards.

Johnson finds himself tied with Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie RB Doug Martin for 4th place.

Comparing yards per carry for those top guys, Johnson is in 2nd place with 5.1 YPC. Peterson is in 1st with 5.8 YPC.

It’s impressive to see that Johnson has climbed the ranks so well and fixed his average after having four games earlier this season in which he topped out at 24 yards and bottomed out at 4 yards. Johnson’s average would be right up there with Peterson had it not been for those games. That goes to show just how good Johnson is doing. It also goes to show what a freak of nature Adrian Peterson is.

Seriously, I hate that guy but I tip my hat to him. He’s having an unbelievable season coming off that torn ACL.

Johnson has six games left in the season. If he averages 100 yards per game, he’ll top out the season at 1,462 yards. That’s something I can handle, considering he was on pace to be well below 1,000 yards at the beginning of the season.

Another fun stat to take from this comparison is the fact that CJ has 42 less touches than Marshawn Lynch, who has the most with 212, and 3 less touches than Doug Martin, who has 173.

Johnson has really turned it on, in big thanks to an offensive line that has suddenly found it’s rhythm. The timing is perfect. In order to make the playoffs, the Titans basically need to sweep their last six games. While that doesn’t seem the most likely, crazier things have happened.

With Johnson pound the rock so well and QB Jake Locker finally behind center again, the Titans just might have what it takes to make the playoffs.

You can find me on Twitter @JustinLStewart