In an effort to both get more from an underachieving player and also shore up an important position, the Chiefs moved outside linebacker Derrick Johnson into the middle for the rest of the season, beginning with Sunday’s game at Denver.

Few players have been as disappointing to the 2-10 Chiefs this season as Johnson, potentially their best defensive talent. Johnson made play after play in the preseason, giving the Chiefs reason to believe he would have a big season.

But other than in an early-season win against Denver and last week’s victory against Oakland, Johnson has delivered few big plays in the regular season.

At the same time, the Chiefs haven’t received what they wanted from their middle linebackers this season. Napoleon Harris was the starter when training camp began, Pat Thomas took over in the preseason and Rocky Boiman started there the past two games.

Boiman will move into Johnson’s place on the outside.

“He’s got a lot of talent,” coach Herm Edwards said of Johnson. “He just needs to learn how to be consistent with his talent. We’ll let him run to the ball and be able to make some plays. Now, he’ll be in the middle of the field where he can go both ways, especially perimeter plays. When you play on the outside, you can’t make them on the other side of the field.”

The decision also is aimed at next season. The Chiefs will have to rebuild at linebacker, where they will seek two new starters to join Johnson.

For now, none of their other five linebackers appear to be starting candidates next season. The Chiefs seem to be more comfortable with Boiman, Thomas and Demorrio Williams as backups.

They have been frustrated that 35-year-old Donnie Edwards has been unable to stay healthy this season. Curtis Gatewood, recently signed off Washington’s practice squad, is a developmental player.

The Chiefs are determined in these last four games to learn whether they should seek two outside linebackers or one outside and one for the middle.

“We need to look at that because next year we’re going to have to make some decisions,” Herm Edwards said. “The more we can find out about him, that helps us down the road with all of the linebacker positions.”

Johnson’s contract also expires after the 2009 season. The Chiefs will soon have to decide whether to try to re-sign Johnson and whether or not he succeeds at his new position could swing their opinion.

The Chiefs believe Johnson tends to lose concentration at times, which could explain lapses in his play. Playing in the middle could help Johnson. The middle linebacker is responsible for making many of the defensive calls.

“He might be more comfortable in there because he played in college there,” Edwards said.

Johnson acknowledged his disappointing play. He missed two recent games because of a sore hamstring and returned two weeks ago against Buffalo, when he had perhaps his worst game of the season.

He responded with one of his strongest games of the season last Sunday in Oakland, where he had nine tackles, forced a fumble and broke up a couple of passes.

“I’ve had problems with injuries this year but I never want to give myself an excuse to not be the top player on the team,” Johnson said. “I felt great last Sunday, as good as I’ve felt all season.”

When asked about the possibility recently, Johnson wasn’t excited about moving into the middle. His attitude changed on Wednesday after he went to practice and had time to digest the news.

“It’s not that big of a thing,” he said. “We’ve all got to know all three spots anyway. We’ve been playing in this system for a while, so I’ve got it down. I’ve played there some in practice. I played there in college. I just haven’t played there in a game (with the Chiefs).

“I don’t want to say it’s nothing, but I’m not nervous about this at all. I’m looking forward to the challenge. It’ll be fun. It’s a good look for me. We’re moving some people around and we’ll see how it is.”