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Bolts Plan More MT With LT


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This appeared in the Union-Tribune today. Using both backs at the same time is an OC's dream, but LT's production will take a hit. :D

 

__________________________________________________

 

BOLTS NEED MORE MT WITH LT

 

UNION-TRIBUNE

May 2, 2007

by Nick Canepa Staff Writer

 

Sez Me . . .

 

Let's look at it in a positive way. The Chargers have acquired an additional No. 1 draft choice. His name is Michael Turner.

 

“That's how I see it,” General Manager A.J. Smith says. “For one year.”

 

That's also how Turner sees it.

 

Look at the just-completed NFL draft. Say Turner, who has been the Chargers' backup tailback since being drafted in 2004's fifth round, somehow had become eligible for it. Oklahoma's Adrian Peterson and Cal's Marshawn Lynch were the only runners taken in the first round.

 

 

Are they better than a proven commodity, a man who has averaged 6 yards a carry in the NFL? He's 25, with very fresh legs. Give me someone who's done it. He might have been the best back in the draft.

“I think so,” says Turner, now a Charger for at least another season. “But I thought I was the best back in the draft when I was taken in the fifth round. No matter what year I'm coming out, I'm going to think I'm the best running back.”

 

At the end of the 2006 season, Turner became a restricted free agent, meaning he could talk with other clubs, but any offer could be matched by San Diego. Smith made it difficult for him to go elsewhere, though, when he asked for a first-and third-round pick in return.

 

Smith didn't get what he wanted by the end of the draft and, so, Monday, he pulled Turner completely off the shelf, insisting he no longer will listen to offers. There are those who don't believe him, and that ticks Smith off.

 

“They say it's a ploy, that I really don't mean it,” Smith says. “I mean what I say. Now how can I say something like that and then trade him in October?”

 

Well, if the right deal comes along, he could say: “I reserve the right to change my mind.”

 

“I do,” he says. “But not on this.”

 

Believe me. Turner remains here.

 

But what to do with him? He's been underused. New coach Norv Turner has to find a way to get LaDainian Tomlinson and his backup together on the field more often. Why keep a genuine weapon sitting on the bench? As it was, the previous coaching regime was guilty of sitting tight end Antonio Gates at the wrong times.

 

There is room in Norv Turner's bulging offensive mind to find a way. Will he?

 

“No question,” the coach says. “We talked about it but didn't spend a lot of time on it because Michael might have been playing across the country. I actually talked to LT about it today. We need a plan to get Michael involved throughout the game.”

 

The tailback will be here for one more season and then become an unrestricted free agent when, if healthy, he'll make much more than his present salary of $2.35 million. To re-sign him would mean the Chargers would be paying a fortune for two running backs, so it's unlikely. But intriguing.

 

“I can't answer that now,” Smith says. “I can answer your question in '08, after the '07 season.”

 

Hate to see good football players walk, but when you have so many of them, it's bound to happen.

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This appeared in the Union-Tribune today. Using both backs at the same time is an OC's dream, but LT's production will take a hit. :D

 

__________________________________________________

 

BOLTS NEED MORE MT WITH LT

 

UNION-TRIBUNE

May 2, 2007

by Nick Canepa Staff Writer

 

Sez Me . . .

 

Let's look at it in a positive way. The Chargers have acquired an additional No. 1 draft choice. His name is Michael Turner.

 

“That's how I see it,” General Manager A.J. Smith says. “For one year.”

 

 

 

Dumb a$$.

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Seems like every summer there are three or four backs who have their coach say that they are going to use a second guy "more this year" and then it never really happens. Whatever works, works - coaches do not like to mess with success.

 

And when has Norv Turner EVER been involved in a committee backfield? 2004 Raiders had no decent RB so they mixed in and they all sucked but otherwise, Turner is one of the few coaches in the NFL that you can depend on using a RB a lot. A RB - not more than one.

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Seems like every summer there are three or four backs who have their coach say that they are going to use a second guy "more this year" and then it never really happens. Whatever works, works - coaches do not like to mess with success.

 

And when has Norv Turner EVER been involved in a committee backfield? 2004 Raiders had no decent RB so they mixed in and they all sucked but otherwise, Turner is one of the few coaches in the NFL that you can depend on using a RB a lot. A RB - not more than one.

 

 

Yeah, this is all smoke by AJ to justify not trading the guy and getting something for him.

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