I value Tim's opinion. Evan Higgins does not. At all. Now, I've never been introduced to Mr. Higgins' writings before, nor do I hang around the bleacher report all that much. I hold no disrespect towards Mr. Higgins even if I may disagree with him on some things here and there. However, this article was too good to pass up. And by good I mean, what the f*** is he smoking?
The Houston Texans are not far away from competing with the high level franchises. They have multiple Pro Bowl players in quarterback Matt Schaub, receiver Andre Johnson, defensive end Mario Williams and linebacker Demeco Ryans.
Mr. Higgins starts out fine, throwing out some undeniable facts. After this though, things get a big ugly. Gross, even.
Though the biggest hole on this team is at running back.
Arguable. I would say there are bigger holes to be filled on the defense, particularly in the secondary and arguably even the offensive line is a greater concern than a Foster/Slaton backfield. He's still walking on the path of sanity though.
Who's the answer and running back? LaDainian Tomlinson.
Now on the path of insanity. I'll give him a fair shot at an argument though, maybe he'll make me at least consider the thought. LT does wear a pretty cool visor.
He may not produce as well as he once did, but he still has a lot of gas in the tank that needs to be unloaded with a new team.
"A lot of gas?" You're kidding, right? What evidence do you have to back this up, sir? Are we talking about the same guy, the one who's total rushing yards from last year (730) were less than Detroit Lions running back Kevin Smith, who missed the last three games of the season, played on a substantially worse offensive line, and was without his starting quarterback for three weeks in which he did play? Yes, yes we are. And no, by no means is Kevin Smith a good or even average player. He averaged just 3.4 YPC last year, but it speaks volumes of LT.
Tomlinson, the player a couple years ago, any team would give the world to have on their team. A former MVP and first player taken in every fantasy football league was every running backs role model. He was as good as it got in the NFL.
Ignoring the grammar issues, fantasy football is not a good determinant of whether a player still has anything left in the tank. Just take my word for it on this one.
But the past two seasons, Tomlinson has taken a dip in his production and stats. He's been able to rack up touchdown, but all he's pretty much been is a goal-line back.
What's this? Evidence that LT is done for good? Am I seeing Mr. Higgins fight his way back to sanity? Was the previous nonsense just sarcasm on his part to hit the point home?
Although some would argue, at only 30 years of age, Tomlinson's legendary career is not over. Remember, this is the same player that set the single-season touchdown record of 28 just three seasons ago.
Guess not. Three seasons is a long time ago, buddy. I will give you that he had a pretty solid season two years ago. Still, that's 30 games (including injuries, which forced him to sit out two) in which we haven't seen the same "legendary" LT. Instead, we've seen someone who averaged 3.8 YPC in 2008 and a measly 3.3 in 2009. Yikes.
He'd also be returning to his home town in Texas.
As if... that means anything? No, you're right. TCU being in the same state as Reliant Stadium means LT is back for good!
Houston is so close to being a playoff-caliber team. With just a few holes filled this off-season, I see them quickly making it to the playoffs, and maybe even reaching a Super Bowl sooner then we think.
You heard it from him first, folks. LT = Super Bowl. Place your bets now. Wasn't Ahman Green supposed to get us into the playoffs "sooner than we thought"? Awkward..
Look no further than Tim's post linked above to see why adding a player of LT's age would do nothing but harm to the Texans. If you need more proof, or just like pictures better than text, there's this as well. The number of 30 year old running backs empirically failing at that age is just too big to ignore.
Again, no disrespect to Mr. Higgins. It's all in good fun and anyone could go through this gem and do the same to me. I'd have no defense.