What should fans know about Falcons free agent-target Michael Turner, who's being wooed this weekend by team owner Arthur Blank?

We threw that one out to a few folks who've gotten to know the running back the past few years with the San Diego Chargers:

NICK CANEPA

Columnist, San Diego Union-Tribune

"Michael Turner, besides being a good guy, has been the best backup runner in the NFL. He is not like LaDainian Tomlinson, but he can move around, and he's very, very strong. My guess is that he has some time left. He hasn't been used all that much — although he's been incrediby effective at times — so his legs should be fresh. He can return kickoffs, but if he's going to be a No. 1 back, I would shy away from that.

"There always had been talk about using 'LT' and Turner in the same backfield, putting them together in some packages, but that rarely happened. A mistake. Turner was a weapon who mostly sat. Weapons are there to be used."

JIM CORBET

NFL writer, USA Today

"Michael Turner is a combination of power and speed best suited as a between-the-tackles runner, but with breakaway, 4.4-second speed to take any carry the distance once he gets into the second level. Clearly, from the way he has handled a backup role to LaDainian Tomlinson the last four years in San Diego, Turner is a team guy who would seem an ideal fit for a tandem backfield such as one the Falcons might orchestrate under new coach Mike Smith, who seems to want to emulate the 1-2 duo of Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew Smith in Jacksonville.

"In a potential combination of Turner and Jerious Norwood, the Falcons would be able to blend an enviable, Jaguars-esque combination that could provide a ball control attack and take pressure off both the defense and whomever emerges as the quarterback of the Smith-Thomas Dimitroff era.

"One last intangible that Turner absorbed first-hand while watching 2006 league MVP Tomlinson was how hard the game's best running back works during the offseason to play at the highest possible level."

HANK BAUER

Chargers team radio analyst and former running back

"He's a great team guy. Has good hands and a deceptive burst. He's built very, very low to the ground and has the lower body of a 275-pound man. He's like trying to tackle a Volkswagen bug. I can't wait to see what he'll do as a full-time starter; it wouldn't surprise me to see him rush for over 1,000 yards — easily. I love this guy — on and off the field."

JAY POSNER

Staff writer, San Diego Union-Tribune

"While Turner's nickname 'Burner' is logical, given his name, speed is not the most impressive part of his game. It's not that he's slow by any means — witness his 83-yard TD run to seal the Chargers' win over the then-unbeaten Colts in 2005 — but he's more of a power runner who would just as soon run over a defender than around him. It isn't often that the first defensive player to hit Turner winds up tackling him."