Exactly right. Getting rid of him was the only possible move given how he was utilized and the uncertainty surrounding him both monetarily and physically. Still, I think most people are hoping he does well and it's great to see that maybe he'll recover from the injury. As far as Leon being better than McKnight this year, a lot of that depends on whether he can hold up. That part remains to be seen.
It wasn't the only possible move, we gambled that he wouldn't be able to play and as of today it looks like a terrible move. Things change quickly. leon may never regain his abilities, McKnight may begin to take his job seriously and use all that talent but as of today it was a bad move.
I always felt like Leon would be back, I'm surprised he's even back on the field this soon. Still hate the move.
They should've kept Leon and TJ (Greene injury insurance) and left LT in San Diego, and McKnight for someone else to babysit. Once he got past Carroll that many times, you had to wonder about the kid... In the end, it may not be a big deal. If Greene can carry the load, and LT is decent on passing downs, you won't notice it too much.
This is what I'm hoping for. I think LT has more left in the tank than a lot of people give him credit for, but time will tell.
I don't know that we necessarily based it entirely on the injury. Obviously that factored in, but I don't think we ever utilized Leon as well as we could have. I think Tomlinson was injury insurance for Leon, and eventually the front office realized that Leon's use would be further limited and we'd probably lose him after this season. I think the team figured by drafting a back they could get someone under a good contract for multiple seasons and getting rid of Leon eliminated one potential contract headache. With LT, McKnight doesn't have to be as good as Leon right now. He just has to develop, and I think the coaching staff thinks he will. Rex keeps talking about him getting it as though it's almost certain that he will.
Rex is an optimist. If he has a guy with any ability he's going to try and pump the guy up and bring it out of him. Tommy Lasorda was that way, it worked a lot of the time but not always. McKnight certainly has the potential but we don't know if he can be what we already had with Leon, which is why people are questioning the move.
