Durability – Advantage: Taylor

Tomlinson usually stays healthy for most of the season, but he has missed a game or two.

Taylor did not miss games. He would play with a broken bone in his leg, a shoulder that hurt every time he hit someone (not a good situation to be in if you play linebacker in the NFL)and any assortment of injuries throughout his career. Yet every Sunday he took the field. He wasn’t invincible, but he played like it.

Versatility – Advantage: Tomlinson

Taylor could drop into pass coverage okay, but he was first and foremost a pass-rusher.Without that amazing facet of his game, he was just another good linebacker.

Tomlinson goes anywhere on the field. If a defense has a weak link anywhere, the Chargers will try to send Tomlinson in that direction on pass routes so that he can make a play. Everyone gushes about Reggie Bush’s versatility this year.Tomlinson can do anything Bush does, even return punts if need be, but Tomlinson throws a good pass. As we found out earlier this year, Bush does not.

Mental Edge Over Opponents – Advantage: Taylor

Tomlinson scares the eye-black off of defenses, but Taylor took intimidation to another level when he played.

Quarterbacks were obsessed with Taylor’s whereabouts on every play. Their goal became not to move the offense down the field, but to avoid becoming a victim to one of Taylor’s vicious arm chops that separated many a player from the football.

There were games when a quarterback gave up and dropped to the ground because Taylor simply flashed by him.Without even touching the quarterback, Taylor could cause a play to go haywire because the quarterback would simply stop looking at his receivers in order to frantically locate where Taylor was. That is practically the definition of a mental edge.