Larry Johnson, what comes to mind when you hear his name? has-been? wasted talent? bigot? or maybe Cedric Benson the Second?

Larry Johnson (LJ) was recently cut from the Kansas City Chiefs and no one claimed him from waivers because of his contract, $2.3 million. Since becoming a FA Larry Johnson has been contacted by four teams.

Take a look at the Bears' current running back corps.

• Matt Forte-- Has the ability to be a top back in the league, but currently not getting the job done
• Garrett Wolfe-- lacerated kidney, but has shown flashes when used in screen passes and has become a ST standout
• Adrian Peterson-- injured earlier this season and in the last year of his contract and on the wrong side of 30.
• Kevin Jones-- out for the season, and has become very unreliable, even in the preseason he was not showing the brilliance earlier in his career against second string defenses. He has suffered multiple injuries to his lower body and may be an unfortunate career cut short.

The minute that the Chicago Bears traded for Jay Cutler we left the mantra of we are a run first team. Teams over the past decade have proven that you need to be able to be able to move the ball through the air to take advantage of better defenses.

The recent Cincinnati/Arizona debacles and our Comcast Red Zone Efficiency, tied for 25th in the NFL12 for 27 prior to ARI, prove that we still need to be able to run the ball.

The main ways that the run game could help.

• Increase time of possession. Simply put the longer we have the ball the less time the opposing team has to score on us. Did you know that since 1920 prior to this year the Bears have allowed opponents to score 31 or more points in the first half 5 times? Now halfway through the 2009 season they have allowed 31 points of more in the first half twice.
• Increase red zone efficiency, this is something Bears fans love. When I was at the Bears-Packers game at Soldier Field the fans and I started a chant "stuff it down their throat!" when the Bears got in the red zone right behind the Packers bench.
  
• Third down conversions. Keep this in mind the next time you see the Bears fail to convert on 3rd and less than 3 yards.
• Open up passing lanes for the passing game. If safeties have to constantly worry about the run they play closer to the line of scrimmage, you'll notice when announcers say there's "7 or 8 men in the box" they are referring to players coming up to the area behind the defensive line to prevent the run.

Simply put the Bears need to get a run game going in order to compete for a 2010 playoff spot and the Bears need a defense and a run game to compete for a Championship.

Where does Larry Johnson fit into this? 2.7 yard average per carry, 0 TDs, and a bad attitude does not sound like the answer...

Larry Johnson has disappeared since 2007, the same season that the Offensive Line started to fall apart. He has not been producing, but he played on the Kansas City Chiefs his entire career since he was drafted in 2003.

The Kansas City Chiefs are a team on verge of collapse, did you know that since 2007-present they are 7-33. Does this condone Larry Johnson's actions? No but I like the fact that he wants to win more than anything.

Larry Johnson with a decent OL over 2005 and 2006 LJ averaged 1770 yards per season, 4.7 yards per carry, 18.5 TDs rushing per season, 10.2 yards per reception, and 3 receiving TDs.

Do the Bears have a decent OL? No

Do I think Jerry Angelo brings in Larry Johnson? No, but I hope this got you thinking about the running game and about options we can to improve it