Falcons overspend to land pre-owned back Turner

Darren McFadden lit up the NFL scouting combine last week. A slew of other running backs did, too.

In four years in the NFL, Michael Turner has 228 career carries. (Getty Images)

The 40 times for many of them were blistering, impressing many of the scouts and personnel people.

"Clearly you could have a half-dozen in the first round and you could probably make an argument for four in the top 10, depending on what your needs were," Indianapolis Colts general manager Bill Polian said last week. "To me, that's clearly the strongest position I've seen thus far."

It also happens to be the easiest position for a rookie to play. Those are some of the reasons why I don't quite get the Atlanta Falcons spending big to land free agent running back Michael Turner, who was LaDainian Tomlinson's backup the past four years with the San Diego Chargers.

You can always find backs -- particularly in a year when the draft is loaded with them.

The Falcons plan to use Turner as the inside runner and Jerious Norwood as their outside runner. I understand the 1-2 combination. I just don't think paying a back who is entering his fifth year in the league is a wise move, even a back like Turner who has only 228 carries on his body.

That's still 228 more than McFadden or Felix Jones or Rashard Mendenhall or Jonathan Stewart or any other runners in this year's draft.

They're fresher. They're younger.

And, remember, the life expectancy for most NFL back is less than five years. My philosophy on backs would be to draft them, beat them up, discard them and start all over again.

I wrote the same type of analysis when the Arizona Cardinals signed Edgerrin James in 2006. Now the Cardinals are looking for a young upgrade and the Colts have a better back in Joseph Addai, who they drafted a month after James left. There was too much mileage on the James' wheels.

James had more mileage than Turner, so it's different. But why spend on a back with any mileage? Would you prefer a car off the used lot more than a shiny new one, even though the used one had limited mileage? Or course not.

The Falcons passed up a sleek new car for a decent one with mileage.

Those who will say this is a good move will note that the Falcons know what they're getting, while there's unpredictability bringing in a rookie runner.