Tomlinson's whole game relied on his ability to cut back and find the back alley. His leg injuries have diminished his ability to do that. He might be able to plow ahead for a few but once he hits the field at the age of 31, with his previous injury history and the wear and tear on his legs, he's going to leave himself open to another case of turf toe or another tweaked ankle. At that point, it's going to be the Jones criticisms again like Rmagedon said, only without three years of service behind him to foster any kind of loyal support. Michael Bush suffered a broken Tibia in his senior season at Louisville and missed his entire rookie season with the Raiders.. Chances are, Leon is not going to be back to his full health and he is not going to be able to run away from defenders and make them miss like he used to which is going to get him in trouble thanks to his size. Just because it is no more likely to break does not mean it can do everything it used to.
Hence why the contract needs to be cheap and we still need to draft a RB. LT is a stopgap and a good insurance policy if we lose Leon. I can see us with 4 RBs on the roster this season if the price is right.
I'll not argue your first point, but with regards to the second any ongoing issues aren't usually to do with the bones, but poor rehabilitation - muscle wastage and loss of tone mean that recovery training tries to favour the stronger leg and creates an imbalance on tendons and ligaments. Properly administered physiotherapy will prevent this, these sorts of problems usually occur when there is pressure to get a player back as soon as possible and short cuts are taken. I am assuming that this has not happened.
Of course I can. I only mock when I feel it's merited. Hell, if you look back, I even stood up for you when you were being dumped on the other day. I just find the argument that LT is a locker room cancer to be absurd. The argument you have about injury is valid. The argument you have about diminished ability is valid. I may argue with those, but I won't mock them. This one, however, is something that has been blown way out of proportion by the media over the past few years...and that's taking into account that it really hasn't been reported all that often.
If we sign LT, we sure as hell better roll with 4 RB's this season (and Woodhead, why? I don't know). Any less and I'd be extremely surprised if we even make the POs.
You're assuming Woodhead will be making anything from us next season. I'm not so sure that's the case.
I don't think the problems lie there. I think the problem lies in how this injury effects his psyche. It's for the same reason why Brady now has a hard time stepping up into the pocket to throw the ball. That pain is probably still fresh in his memory. Once his psyche goes, his running style will follow and he'll be a completely different player. And sadly, we won't know that at least until Pre-Season.
That I'll grant you is an unknown. I've no huge issue if Leon does go elsewhere and we use the resulting second rounder on an RB in the draft, and indeed as Ignatius says it would be good to draft at least one anyway. As I said earlier in the discussion, I've no issue with rookie RBs going straight into the side, there isn't a huge level of acclimatisation required other than learning the playbook. If that does happen I think it only strengthens the case for acquiring LT.
The issue is if the Vikes lose Favre they'll instantly be locked in a battle with Chicago and Green Bay wheras with him they are probably a 12 or 13 win team again. He comes to the Jets he has a great D with an awesome OL to run behind. He also gets to try and stick it to Belly twice a year.
He might not want to if Favre isn't certain yet what he is going to do this upcoming season. Also reading he is to meet with Philly, and New Orleans this weekend.(Peter King say's he MAY visit them)
I do not want this guy and cannot understand why the Jets would be interested. He is D-O-N-E. Younger and cheaper, please.
