Where will LT be ranked?

[thatpfunk]

Depending alot upon Martyball, but the team now has other weapons.

And rushing avg is not the only statistic in which you base a rb upon.

[SammyKid11]

Well, I went to TCU at the same time as LT, and I knew him a little bit (I wouldn't say we were "friends," but we certainly said hello, had lunch together a couple of times, he came to see my band several times at area clubs, etc.). I caught up with him in the weight room a few times, and I can tell you without a doubt that I have never seen a man work harder than he does. The common thread of RB's who have long shelf lives is that they all take REALLY good care of themselves. I never saw LT put anything harmful in his body, I know he works his ass off harder than almost anyone, and he has no recurring major injuries in his past that make me believe he's likely to suffer something awful (though, obviously, a lot of that is chance).

Nevertheless, he's the best all-purpose RB in the game today and this is only his fifth season in the league. I think he will very easily pass 10k yards rushing...and what's going to be more impressive when you add it all up is his total yardage from scrimmage and his TD total (rushing and receiving). I think he needs another 4-5 years like he's had thus far to be considered one of the greats. Obviously I'm biased, because he gave all of us at TCU around that time alot of thrills...but I think he's got a very legitimate chance to be considered the greatest RB of this decade and one of the 10-15 best of all time.

[CCass]

Just look at Eddie Goerge's career to see what a lot of touches does for a RB (I am not comparing EG to LT talent wise). When they (RB's with lots of touches) hit the wall, they hit it hard.

[jakethebake]

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Just look at Eddie Goerge's career to see what a lot of touches does for a RB (I am not comparing EG to LT talent wise). When they (RB's with lots of touches) hit the wall, they hit it hard.

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Eddie George's career was amazingly long and productive for the punishement he took.

[Wes ManTooth]

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I refuse to acknowledge anyone other than Lawerence Taylor as LT.

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[JayLear]

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Just look at Eddie Goerge's career to see what a lot of touches does for a RB (I am not comparing EG to LT talent wise). When they (RB's with lots of touches) hit the wall, they hit it hard.

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Eddie George and Tomlinson are poor comparisons -- their running styles are completely different. George's upright running style subjected him to a ton of hits. He touched the ball a lot and absorbed wicked shots on a regular basis. Tomlinson has shown no signs of slowing down. He's got plenty of good years left.

[JayLear]

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BTW, "barring major injury..." well, that's really not something you can throw out when talking about RBs. Ladanian's been worked hard, averaging about 415 touches/season. Last year with a better passing attack and more wins, he had his worst year since his rookie year.

I mean, let's look at it. He's had one awesome year, one great year, and two bad years. He peaked two seasons ago and I don't even know if he'll have as good a year as he had in 2002.

I think he's got 2 1000 yard seasons left in him, maybe 3 if the team decides to stick with him when it's apparent all hope is lost (a la the Titans and Eddie George).

Guys like Curtis Martin and Jerome Bettis are the exception; guys like Eric Dickerson and Gale Sayers are the rule.

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Tomlinson:
2001 1236 rush, 367 rec, 10 TD
2002 1683 rush, 489 rec, 15 TD
2003 1645 rush, 725 rec, 17 TD
2004 1335 rush, 441 rec, 18 TD

Which year is the awesome year, which was the great year, and which two are the bad years? The only one that could be argued was a bad year would be 2001, and he still had 1200 yards and 10 TD's. If that's a bad year, then there aren't very many good ones. And assuming the other bad year you refer to was last year, again I would argue that 1800 total yards and 18 TD's -- uh, that's pretty good. As I posted in another spot in this thread, comparing him to Eddie George isn't legitimate, as they're completely different runners. The only validity in that comparison is that they both touched the ball a great deal, but Tomlinson doesn't take near the punishment that George did. Tomlinson works hard, and is always in fantastic condition -- the kind of intense workouts that Walter Payton and Jerry Rice are famous for. To say he peaked two seasons ago just isn't right, considering that the three seasons since his rookie year have been pretty consistent.

Of course, it's impossible to predict a players longevity. Anything can happen -- Sayers is certainly proof of that. But also keep in mind that Sayers most likely wouldn't have had such a short career if he played in today's game. He suffered serious knee injuries that certainly with today's medical advances wouldn't have been as crippling as they were for him back then. And by the way Eric Dickerson still played 10 full seasons in the NFL -- while it's not as long a career as the likes of Payton, Smith, Bettis, and Martin, it certainly wasn't what you would consider a career that was cut short, such as Sayers, Billy Simms, or Earl Campbell.

That said, at the age of 26, with only 4 full seasons under his belt and already a stellar 5900 yards rushing, you'd be crazy to predict he'll end up with anything less than 10,000 yards. Assuming he repeats his "bad numbers" from 2004 for this year and the two years after that and ends his career at the age of 28 years old, that would put him at 9900 yards.

10,000 is a lock for him.

[Jack of Arcades]

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Which year is the awesome year, which was the great year, and which two are the bad years?

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Awesome: 2003.
Great: 2002.
Bad: 2001, 2004.

If a guy's going to get 340 carries from me, he better damn well rush for at least 1400 yards.

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As I posted in another spot in this thread, comparing him to Eddie George isn't legitimate, as they're completely different runners.

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Every time Ladanian gets the ball, his knees take more and more damage and it increases the chance that he'll get hit with a major injury.

He's probably getting worked more than any badck in his first four seasons.

[JayLear]

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Which year is the awesome year, which was the great year, and which two are the bad years?

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Awesome: 2003.
Great: 2002.
Bad: 2001, 2004.

If a guy's going to get 340 carries from me, he better damn well rush for at least 1400 yards.

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Pretty hefty expectations -- I guess you follow a team better than the Bears -- I would KILL for this type of production!!! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img][/b]

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As I posted in another spot in this thread, comparing him to Eddie George isn't legitimate, as they're completely different runners.

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Every time Ladanian gets the ball, his knees take more and more damage and it increases the chance that he'll get hit with a major injury.

He's probably getting worked more than any badck in his first four seasons.

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He gets worked a great deal, but he has shown he can handle the load. In his 4 years he's played 63 of a possible 64 games, and was only slowed by a nagging groin injury last year. To predict his demise at this point isn't based on anything more than a guess.

[thatpfunk]

Last year was a bad year? Do you actually watch football or just rely on stats? (ignoring the fact that 1800 all purpose yards and 18tds in 15 games, is a "bad" season for a rb to you)

Teams put 8 guys in the box against him all the time, there is a reason why Gates had SUCH an amazing year. Ladanian was the foundation of the entire offense. Calling his season "bad" is so inane, so ignorant to the sport.