"The Chargers are toast if LT or Rivers goes down."
"All it will take is an injury to LT and the Chargers season is over"
"We'll see how good a G.M. A.J. Smith is if the is an injury to LT."
If you are a Broncos, Chiefs, or Raiders fan you have probably said it. If you are a Chargers fan you have probably rolled your eyes and argued against it. The argument is that if there is an injury to Tomlinson or Rivers or Gates, then the Chargers will collapse like a deck of cards.
I am going to tell you that this often repeated argument is ridiculous. There is not one team in the NFL that if their star player went down they would not find it more difficult to win games. You might as well say if the entire team catches the flu one week they will likely lose. Yes and so would any other team.
The Chargers are better equipped than most teams to deal with injuries to their stars than most teams. I'll first take a look at LT, then at Rivers and finish with Gates.
LaDainian Tomlinson
First, LT had a sprain to his MCL which did not require surgery. He did not have a tear to his MCL or ACL as is often stated by fans of other team. Second, LT has shown a propensity throughout his career for avoiding big hits and one injury does not make him injury prone. Third, Michael Turner was a great back-up but there is no way the Chargers could have kept him. He wanted to be a starter and was given a truckload of money by Atlanta. We wish him well and hope to receive a third round compensatory pick for him. Fourth, the Chargers drafted two backs this year in hope that one can replace Turner: Jacob Hester, RB, LSU, RD 3 and Marcus Thomas, RB, UTEP, RD 5. Fifth, the Chargers still have Darren Sproles and Andrew Pinnock on the roster.
Should LT go down it is likely that Norv Turner would switch to a RB by committee with Darren Sproles as the scat-back and Hester or Thomas as the bruiser. These guys are not slouches. Last year in his only year as the starting halfback for LSU, Hester ran for 1103 yds and 12 touchdowns in the defense happy SEC. Thomas rushed for 1210 yds and 16 tds for UTEP. Each of them has shown the ability to catch out of the backfield. Last year coming in to spell LT in the second half of Chargers blowout of the Lions Sproles had 122 yds on 25 carries. Yes the offense would change but the Chargers are working on a backup plan. We will get plenty of chances to see if these backs have what it takes during the preseason as once again LT is not likely to play. Other teams have had excellent running games without a dominant star back; for example the Oakland Raiders were 6th in the league in rushing yards yet didn't have one running back start more than 7 games.
I suspect that an injury to LT would also mean the Chargers would rely more on the passing attack. They have several weapons including All-Pro TE Antonio Gates, up and coming WR Vincent Jackson (18 rec, 300 yds, 2 tds in 3 games during the playoffs) and the top WR in the division Chris Chambers.
Philip Rivers
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