The San Diego Chargers have released 30-year old running back LaDainian Tomlinson.  Tomlinson played in 14 games for the Chargers last season and he carried the ball 223 times for 730 yards (3.3 ypc) with 12 TD runs.  He also caught 20 passes for 154 yards (7.7 avg) last season.  Personally I think the Chargers are giving up on Tomlinson a little too soon as I think he has something left.  Tomlinson played in 141 games in his nine years with the Chargers and he carried the ball 2,880 times for 12,490 yards (4.3 ypc) with 138 TD runs.  He also caught 530 passes for 3,955 yards (7.5 avg) with 15 TD grabs for the Chargers.  L.T. finishes his career with the Chargers as the all-time leader in both rushing yards and rushing TDs.  He is also #3 all-time in receptions for the Chargers.  Tomlinson is the NFL’s #8 all-time leading rusher and he is #2 all-time in rushing TDs just 26 behind Emmitt Smith.  The Chargers will now have to find a new featured running back for the first time in 10 years and it won’t be easy replacing one of the best running backs in NFL history.

The Chargers got some help for the defense and the offensive line last April but they expected more out of this rookie crop.  OLB/DE Larry English (1st round, #16 overall) out of Northern Illinois was supposed to help out with the pass rush in 2009 but that didn’t happen.  He played in all 16 games for the Chargers last season and he made 36 tackles, forced 1 fumble, defensed 1 pass and he had 2 sacks.  OG Louis Vasquez (3rd round, #78 overall) out of Texas Tech was solid for the Chargers as he played and started in 14 games for them as a rookie.  DT Vaughn Martin (4th round, #113 overall) out of Western Ontario played in 10 games as a rookie for the Chargers and he made only 5 tackles.  OG Tyronne Green (4th round, #133 overall) out of Auburn only played in 3 games (0 starts) as a rookie last season for the Chargers.  RB Gartrell Johnson (4th round, #134 overall) out of Colorado State was cut by the Chargers before the season started despite being the leading rusher for them in the preseason.  Johnson was then signed by the Giants.  He played in 10 games for the Giants last season and he carried the ball 13 times for 43 yards (3.3 ypc).  He also caught 1 pass for 15 yards and he made 1 tackle for the Giants as a rookie.  The Chargers should have held onto Johnson.  Safety Kevin Ellison (6th round, #189 overall) out of USC was a steal for the Chargers late in the draft.  He played in 13 games in which he finished up with 52 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 1 sack and 3 passes defensed.  CB Brandon Hughes (5th round, #148 overall) out of Oregon State and WR Demetrius Byrd (7th round, #224 overall) out of LSU spent their rookie seasons on the Injured Reserve List.

GRADE FOR 2009:  C-

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  C