Falcons Sign RB Turner

[jsarno]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

The Associated Press: Falcons, Turner Agree to Deal

Nice pick up for the Falcons. Probably means the end of the road for Dunn in Atlanta

Holy crap, the sky is falling...the Falcons finally made a smart move! Of course, they paid too much for him, but a smart move none the less. I've been waiting for this kid to get out of SD to see what he can do, and the falcons love to run, it's a perfect fit for him. (well, almost perfect, they still will lose a lot of games unless they are able to fill the seemingly thousands of holes.)

[Dirtbag59]

Originally Posted by jsarno

Holy crap, the sky is falling...the Falcons finally made a smart move! Of course, they paid too much for him, but a smart move none the less.

Really? Under $6 million a year for a starting running back that has averaged over 5 YPC multiple times throughout his career is overpaying? How much do we pay Portis? I think the Falcons got a steal. However we'll see how well he does with a patchwork offensive line whos only brightspot seems to be Justin Blaylock.

[jsarno]

Originally Posted by Dirtbag359

Really? Under $6 million a year for a starting running back that has averaged over 5 YPC multiple times throughout his career is overpaying? How much do we pay Portis? I think the Falcons got a steal. However we'll see how well he does with a patchwork offensive line whos only brightspot seems to be Justin Blaylock.

Well, you have a loaded post here.
1- 6 mil a year in this day and age of RB's is a lot, yes.
2- Portis is our highest paid player according to our cap numbers link. I don't recall his actual numbers, but I know his release numbers are 8.875 mil. His salary alone was somewhere around 5 mil. Not sure exactly what we're paying him with bonus, but it's likely near the 8.8 mil if I had to give a guess. IMO Portis is overpaid as well.
3- I do think, and said, I think it's a GREAT pick up for the Falcons and Turner.
4- He had a career low in YPC with 4.5 this year. You can't use his YPC stats as a yardstick to measure with due to the fact that he has never had more than 80 carries in a season. That's a total of 3-4 games for most starting rb's.

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by jsarno

4- He had a career low in YPC with 4.5 this year. You can't use his YPC stats as a yardstick to measure with due to the fact that he has never had more than 80 carries in a season. That's a total of 3-4 games for most starting rb's.

Over his career, he has 228 carries for 5.5 yards per. That's really good.

It's the equivlent of having a single pro bowl season. Have players with one pro bowl gone on to be busts? Sure they have. But chances are that Michael Turner will be a great player for Atlanta, who now has one of the best RB duos in Turner and Jerious Norwood.

It doesn't make them an immediate playoff contender, but its a start.

[jsarno]

Originally Posted by GTripp0012

Over his career, he has 228 carries for 5.5 yards per. That's really good.

It's the equivlent of having a single pro bowl season. Have players with one pro bowl gone on to be busts? Sure they have. But chances are that Michael Turner will be a great player for Atlanta, who now has one of the best RB duos in Turner and Jerious Norwood.

It doesn't make them an immediate playoff contender, but its a start.

Not sure what the point of this post is other than the first part. I have aleady said more than once that the Falcons made a smart move. My only negative is that he is getting paid too much, especially for someone that has never started and will be 26.
I also said I was dieing to see what this kid could do if he was the starter. All I'm saying about the YPC is that you can't use it as a yardstick when he's not a starter. Those kinds of players are used in different fronts and used as a "change of pace", so they are more likely to have inflated numbers.
I personally think he is the perfect combo of size and speed, and will have a monster season for the Falcons even with an average o-line.

[MTK]

Good move by ATL. Turner is a banger.

[hail_2_da_skins]

Great move by Atlanta. Michael Turner has been playing under LaDanian Tomlinson's shadow and now it's his turn to shine. Atlanta had a ton of cap space, so the big contract is not a problem. Since they don't have a good passing game, having a good combination running attack is smart.

[prinzeofmoval]

yeah turner was the best back-up in football. Dunn is already asking to be released.

[freddyg12]

I don't disagree w/Turner being a good rb, but I don't see paying that much for one. On that note, I always disagreed w/the Champ - Portis deal & feel we paid too much for him. Now though, he is very important to the team as a leader & is a good rb.

I don't know if Turner has that intangible effect on his team, or can have it, but rb is a position that these days is easy to fill via the draft in later rounds. With all of Atlanta's needs, they could use the $ on either side of the line, or in looking for Deangelo Hall's replacement if they're going to trade him.

They might still, but I don't see the need to pay a rb this much when your in total rebuilding mode.

[prinzeofmoval]

Originally Posted by freddyg12

I don't disagree w/Turner being a good rb, but I don't see paying that much for one. On that note, I always disagreed w/the Champ - Portis deal & feel we paid too much for him. Now though, he is very important to the team as a leader & is a good rb.

I don't know if Turner has that intangible effect on his team, or can have it, but rb is a position that these days is easy to fill via the draft in later rounds. With all of Atlanta's needs, they could use the $ on either side of the line, or in looking for Deangelo Hall's replacement if they're going to trade him.

They might still, but I don't see the need to pay a rb this much when your in total rebuilding mode.

he's the thunder to norwoods lightning..lets see how it turns out.

[EARTHQUAKE2689]

I am still trying to figure out why he would go to the WORST team in the NFC.

[jsarno]

Originally Posted by EARTHQUAKE2689

I am still trying to figure out why he would go to the WORST team in the NFC.

Cause 1- he becomes an instant starter, 2- he becomes the best player on the team, 3- he gets lots and lots of money. Most good teams already have a RB firmly entrenched as the starter, Turner doesn't want anymore competition for PT.

[Stuck in TX]

wonder whose going to play for Tomlinson now when he is too "injured" to play but not injured enough to dress for the game and look really concerned on the sidelines when his team is down?

[Ruhskins]

Random comment...I still think we should've traded Brunell to ATL (for picks) when Vick got canned, they were desperate....back to reality: I wonder who they're going to pick up for QB (ATL)? Culpepper?