There has been plenty made about how LT is on the downside of his career and that he doesn't have much gas left in the tank.  If 12 total TDs and 1,500+ total yards from scrimmage is downside, we're all in.  Okay, fine, he's peaked.  And yes, three of those TDs did occur in a fantasy meaningless game 17.  This "not much gas left in the tank" talk should stop, though, because relative to the rest of the league, post-peak for LT just means that he will only be a regular #1 back vs. someone that your league imbecile insists should be banned from fantasy drafts.

While LT did have another stellar season in 2007 chalking 18 total TDs and 1,949 total yards, he ended the season in disgrace as he bruised his knee and sat sulking on the sidelines while his team took care of business vs. the Colts in the post-season.  It turned out to be an MCL sprain and he would be too big of a pussy to be able to face the Patriots in the Conference finals.  He then nursed a nagging groin injury for much of the 2008 season and registered career low rushing yards and had an all-round pedestrian year... for him.  Pedestrian for LT is finishing in the top-10 in fantasy scoring (in any format and higher in PPR leagues with 52 receptions) with 1,536 total yards and 12 total TDs.

If you ask LT, he'll tell you that he's all mended ready to go.  Head coach Norv Turner claims that Tomlinson is ready for a full load again, promising to get him 320 carries along with 50 receptions over the course of the year.  If Norv is that stupid, then LT is immediately a top-3 fantasy RB again.  The other obvious outcome is that the Chargers will have again run-down one of their most talented offensive weapons before the NFL playoffs begin.  Norv Turner is among the most over-rated coaches in league history, so we wouldn't put it past him.  The question is; can a 30-year old running back coming off of two straight years of lower body injuries actually handle that kind of load?  When you run this query along a good ol' Occam's razor, I tend to agree with the simplest answer it provides; not a freakin' chance.

The Chargers play in an extremely weak defensive division with Denver, Oakland, and Kansas City giving up an average of 26.58 points/game, and boasting rush defense rankings of 27^th, 30^th and 31^st respectively.  In the past couple of years, LT has managed to garner over half of his TD's against these inter-division teams.  Unfortunately, the Chargers have a tough out-of-division schedule in 2009 as they face the NFC East and the AFC Central - See the SoS Schedule-tron link to the San Diego team page for more detail.

The Chargers bring back a bunch of talent in their skill positions in Phil Rivers, Vincent Jackson, Chris Chambers, and Antonio Gates, along with Sproles and their 4^th-round pick RB Gartrell Johnson.  We tend to believe that the load won't be dropped squarely upon LT's shoulders this year but instead on Norv Turner's chin.  Sick jokes aside, Norv will finally apply sound reasoning in his 12^th years as a head coach and keep LT's touches at around 300 total (carries around 250-290) vs. 370 he has been quoted as forecasting.  They need LT fresh for the playoffs to advance.