L.T.’s future with the Chargers looks pretty tentative these days, unfortunately. Before anything officially happens, I’d like to address two things...One ridiculous theory and a certain factor that can’t be coincidental.
First off, the idea that L.T. “cannot carry the load” anymore is ridiculous. Any of us who follow the team know that last offseason the “genius” A.J. Smith cut loose the No. 1 and No. 2 fullbacks on the team (Lorenzo Neal and Andrew Pinnock).
He replaced those two guys with two rookies...one who was UNDRAFTED (Mike Tolbert from Coastal Carolina) and the other is undersized and was being groomed as a running back in the Charger’s system until midseason (Jacob Hester).
So you replace a Hall-of-Fame fullback AND his backup with two rookies and don’t expect there to be any drop off in running game production? A.J. made a FOOLISH move here. L.T. had virtually ZERO running lanes opened up by his fullbacks. And to add to it, our offensive line simply wasn’t that good this past year.
Secondly, A.J. has systematically run off EVERY SINGLE PLAYER who is represented by Tom Condon and REFUSES TO SPEAK TO THE AGENT IN ANY FASHION. The same problem existed in the past with players like Drew Brees, Donnie Edwards, Rodney Harrison, now LaDanian Tomlinson.
The list is LONG. These players are ALL represented by Tom Condon and are no longer with the Chargers following less-than-cordial separations from the Charger’s organization.
How is A.J.’s behavior even remotely objective and in the interest of the Charger’s organization? Personally, I think that A.J.’s ego is the biggest problem facing the Chargers today.
Yes, L.T. is entering the final years of his brilliant career. But we can’t forget that he is still arguably the best back in the league right now...at least top three. It just makes no sense to me to run the guy off and not have a legitimate plan to fill the void left when he’s gone.
That would be a big void to fill on and off the field. L.T’s the reason the Chargers are even relevant in the league these days. We can’t forget that. Let’s hope by some miracle general manager A.J. Smith somehow remembers that.
So, you may ask, what has A.J. Smith done that makes him so “omnipotent"?
A.J. came to San Diego as an Assistant GM when he followed John Butler from Buffalo to San Diego. A.J. took over as General Manager a few years back when John passed away after losing a battle with cancer.
His first couple of drafts were pretty good. He’s mostly known for his playing hardball with the Giants in drafting Eli Manning and then getting Rivers, Merriman, and Kaeding out of the deal. Great move.
It got him the NFL Executive of the Year award. That and a few good draft picks has fostered the mindset with some that he has restored the Chargers franchise to relevance (although that really happened when Butler drafted L.T. and hired Marty Schottenheimer).
But since then, A.J.’s had quite a few draft busts and has become absolutely Stalin-like with free agents or anyone on his team who he doesn’t favor.
Meanwhile, the team has suffered from a total disregard for adding talent to the team through free agency.
It’s a vital part of filling out a 63-man roster but he just doesn’t see it that way...and it doesn’t help that lots of free agents won’t bother negotiating any deals to come to San Diego because A.J. is such a blowhard.
That’s probably why most of the personnel he brings in to fill holes are rookies, or first and second-year guys...because no veteran would put up with it.
The team just lost one of the better defensive linemen in Igor Olshansky because A.J. didn’t like that he and his agent asked for a contract extension before he became a free agent this offseason. How dare he do that, huh?
A.J. just decided that he didn’t like that and that he could simply replace him in the draft. He thinks he has the “midas touch" on anything he does so why not think he can simply draft a replacement? Yeah, that really worked out with the Fullbacks you drafted this past year, didn’t it A.J.?
What an egotistical jerk.
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