Chargers would be best served by keeping Turner

By Anthony Bialy  |   Tuesday, April 24, 2007  |  Comments( 6 )

San Diego Chargers
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It looks as though running back Michael Turner will stay a San Diego Charger, and it's for the best. The reality is that a trade at the established price for Turner was about as likely as the team relocating to Tijuana and playing its games in a bullfighting arena. Even the Buffalo Bills, who have sent their fans' collective blood pressure soaring by listing Anthony Thomas at the top of their depth chart, were unwilling to bite on a trade for Turner, but the good news for the Chargers is that this means they get to keep a reliable backup who's done just fine when he's gotten his carries.

Teams just balked at the price. A club signing him at the current price would automatically lose first- and third-round picks Saturday, and trading Turner for the same selections spread over this and next year -- as Chargers General Manager A.J. Smith had attempted to finagle -- is still too steep. A squad like Buffalo could take, say, Cal running back Marshawn Lynch with its 12th overall pick and use its third to get another quality player and potential starter.

Mathematically, giving up the chance to draft a promising young back plus another solid first-day pick added up to more than what Turner would bring for the price. Turner has with certainty established himself as an NFL-capable player, something draftees of course have not, but it would be prohibitively tough for a team to surrender two high picks for him. A lowered price in the next few days is the only way he's moving.

Still, he has been promising. Turner had 80 rushing attempts in 2006, more than half of the 157 tries he's had in his three seasons, but the most impressive number is the yards per carry line over his career: 6 per rush. That's a fantastic number, the same amount O.J. Simpson gained per attempt in his 2,003-yard season. But was he set up to be that effective by the starter?

Turner has been a very good backup, but at least part of his efficiency has to be credited to the guy ahead of him. It's easier to come in and do damage when the player getting most of the carries is a historically fantastic back who's arguably not only the best at his position but also the league's top player overall. Heck, that wouldn't even be much of an argument: LaDainian Tomlinson dominates the game without peer and punishes defenses, and Turner has naturally benefited from that.

Still, Turner's presence is important to the Chargers' success. Tomlinson is about to enter his seventh season, and running backs tend to understandably wear out faster than any other position in the game. While Tomlinson is an all-time great who will end up in the five-figure rushing club in 2007, having a quality back to spell him and also step in if he's injured is an important roster strategy.

Tomlinson has been remarkably durable, and spending $2.35 million on a backup, the amount Turner is due next season, is a lot. But there's a difference between "a lot" and "too much," and he's valuable enough to be considered for the former category. The figure zero, which is what the Chargers will have if Turner walks after the upcoming year as an unrestricted free agent, is also a factor. But they do have him for now, and salary cap-era football occasionally means focusing on the current year while knowing players may have to be replaced in 2008; in the meantime, San Diego is currently stacked at running back for '07.

Besides, if Turner does get traded, the Chargers would have to draft a replacement this weekend. Assuming the 25-year-old stays, they can focus on replacing departed linebacker Donnie Edwards, adding a safety, and picking someone to succeed ex-Bolt wideout Keenan McCardell. In particular, any wide receiver they add would make life easier for the running backs already on the team, and having Turner as an intermittent but still vital part of that ground assault will keep the Chargers at the conference's elite level.

Original San Diego Chargers insight, courtesy of RealFootball365.com
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