2009 Fantasy Football Player Profile-LaDainian Tomlinson

RB LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego Chargers

2008 Stats: 1110 rushing yards,  426 receiving yards, 12 total TDs
Projected 2009 Stats:  1600 rushing yards, 444 receiving yards, 18 total TDs
Projected Fantasy Round: 1st Round
Running backs to be picked ahead of LaDainian Tomlinson: Adrian Peterson

Fantasy Outlook:

Why you should draft LaDainian Tomlinson:  Over the last four years, Tomlinson has averaged 1465 rushing yards and 20 total touchdowns.  He also never missed a regular season game in that span.  Tomlinson already has 11,760 and 126 rushing touchdowns for his career, which means he has been a fantasy scoring machine. 

Why you may want to stay away from drafting LaDainian Tomlinson: Last year, Tomlinson had a mere 11 rushing touchdowns, which is a down year by his standards.  In fact, Tomlinson was only able to eclipse triple figures in rushing yards in two games all of last season. 

Bottom Line: Tomlinson was never 100 percent in 2008, so look for a big rebound year in 2009.   Tomlinson is clearly in the upper echelon of fantasy running backs, but he figures to take a back seat to Adrian Peterson as the best overall back.