Earlier this week, my colleague Dave Richard wrote in his column that Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson looks slow and it's time to consider trading him. Wait, what?
Typically, Dave and I agree on most things, but he's getting ahead of himself here. We're still talking about Tomlinson, right?
The guy who has run for at least 1,200 yards and scored 10 touchdowns every year of his career? The guy who scored an NFL-record 31 touchdowns just two years ago? That guy?
I know, we're talking about the here and now, and through four weeks he's been limited. He's also dealing with a toe injury, is 29 years old and doesn't have his standout fullback anymore in Lorenzo Neal.
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Historically, LaDainian Tomlinson is a slow starter.
(US Presswire)
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But it's still Tomlinson, and I'm not ready to give up on him yet. At least not while he's still productive.
He has 77 carries for 296 yards and four touchdowns and 10 catches for 58 yards on the season. Last week, he had his first 100-yard rushing game of the year at Oakland, so he's ready to get going. And he showed the typical Tomlinson closing burst when he finished off the Raiders with a 41-yard scoring run. Ask the Oakland defenders if he looked slow.
By comparison, Tomlinson has been a better Fantasy option this year than last year through the first four games. In 2007, he had 77 carries for 262 yards and two touchdowns and 19 catches for 121 yards and a touchdown at this time.
He finished last year with 315 carries for 1,474 yards and 15 touchdowns and 60 catches for 475 yards and three touchdowns. So his start this year could lead to better results.
In a standard-scoring Fantasy league, Tomlinson is the No. 10 Fantasy running back right now. But his stats are improving, and that's because the toe is getting better. Chargers coach Norv Turner can see Tomlinson coming around.
"I think it's getting better every week," Turner said about Tomlinson on a conference call. "Obviously he finished the game strong last week. There are times in the game I can tell its bothering him. He's been close on three or four plays to hitting a home run, and then he got a chance late in the game like it happens when a team is being desperate and trying to get the ball back and he showed that he certainly can still break it.”
Turner doesn't see the toe being a problem going forward and expects Tomlinson to be at 100 percent for Week 5 at Miami. For the first time since Week 1, Tomlinson was not on the injury report leading up to the Dolphins game.
Chargers receiver Chris Chambers was encouraged by how Tomlinson played against Oakland.
"He played the whole game and that was a good sign," Chambers said in a conference call. "He played more than he had this whole year. It hasn't gotten any worse for him. I expect him to continue to get healthier and healthier as he goes, and Norv does a great job with the guys as far as keeping them healthy, knowing when they need to practice, knowing when they need to take a break. That, over the long haul, will make him good down the stretch."
Now, this isn't to suggest Tomlinson is invincible and won't break down at some point. He's getting to the point in his career where that's destined to happen.
And Tomlinson probably won't finish as the No. 1 Fantasy running back, which is something I said in our preview magazine and on the site before the year started. There are plenty of talented running backs this year, and the Chargers passing game has improved to the point where Tomlinson has competition for touches.
Darren Sproles' development also will hurt Tomlinson. Sproles has 20 carries for 106 yards and five catches for 116 yards and a touchdown this season and has impressed plenty of people around the league.
"He's one of these guys that can be running sideways, put his foot in the ground and as soon as he puts his foot in the ground it's bang, he's gone," Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said of Sproles. "The one thing about the guy is he's a downhill runner. He gets it going downhill pretty fast."
If you can trade Tomlinson, do so from a position of strength. If your Fantasy team is struggling even with Tomlinson, shop him around for a package of players to improve your team. Don't trade him out of panic that his best days are behind him.
Tomlinson is going to be fine. By the end of the year, he will finish as a top Fantasy running back, and you'll be happy he's on your team.
He might even lead you to a Fantasy title. That's typically what happens when you have a player of his caliber.
