There's been a lot of talk lately about how LaDainian Tomlinson is done. After all, Tomlinson had a hideous 2008 season, rushing for only a little more than 1,100 yards while producing an abysmal 3.8 yards per carry. He also was much less effective on the receiving end as well too, only catching 52 passes for 426 yards. And on top of all that, he's injured for the second postseason in a row and he'll be 30 by the time next season starts, which is old by running back standards.

This drop off in production, combined with the sudden emergence of Darren Sproles, has suddenly got some people talking about how the Chargers should just ship Tomlinson out of San Diego and hand the keys to Sproles. And some people includes not only members on our site, but also well known as FOX Sports columnist Jason Whitlock, who said LT's time is up in his latest column.

And let me just be honest with all of you: You're all crazy.

Now, I'm not saying Sproles isn't a good player. After all, he put up the third highest all purpose yard total in playoff history. But we have to remember, that isn't going to happen every game for him. Sometimes we see players have career games right when the player ahead of them starts slipping, and we read too much into it. So let me just tell you the truth, it's unlikely Sproles will ever have another game like the one he did on Saturday. After all, there's a reason why he's one of only a handful of guys to ever have 300 all purpose yards in a playoff game. It doesn't happen that often.

And it's also crazy to assume that just because Sproles was the focus of San Diego's running game on Saturday (24 carries, 105 yards) that he can suddenly do that for a 16-game season. But that's what people are saying, that this one game proves he can be an every down back for an NFL team.

No he can't. You know why? Because he weighs 20 pounds more than I do. No one who weighs 20 pounds more than I do I can survive 20 carries a game for 16 games in the NFL. I remember thinking that as well as Sproles played in Saturday's game, that if the Chargers somehow made the Super Bowl, Sproles would be dead by then due to the number of hits he'd have taken by that point in time.

And don't think of this as some kind of Moneyball issue, where I say because Sproles is 5'6", 185 lbs. that he can't be an extremely effective player. He already is. But simple physics, combined with the propensity for running backs to get injured, pretty much states Sproles can't be a workhouse back. He'll eventually crap out, much in the same way Marion Barber did this season with the Cowboys when he was finally made the team's workhorse back. And by the way, Barber's 6 inches taller than Sproles and 40 lbs. heavier.

What San Diego should do is re-sign Sproles, even if it means overpaying him a bit. And from there, they should employ a strategy much like the Saints have done with Deuce McAlister and Reggie Bush. As in find the best way to utilize the talents of both backs, and make a commitment to making Sproles a much bigger piece of the offense.

It's my contention that if you use LT too much at this point, you'll be extremely disappointed, and if you use Sproles too much, you'll eventually kill him. There's little question that splitting duties is the best option, as it will maximize their strengths and not overload either one of them. I don't know if either guy particularly wants to do that, and I'm not sure Norv Turner is even smart enough to realize that he should have them splitting duties, but that's really the best case scenario for everyone.