Chargers’ Butts Is Fast Enough, OK?

Our mission today is to determine the actual speed of Charger running back Marion Butts.

He’s being vague about his time in the 40-yard dash.

“It varies,” he said. “I didn’t really have a real good time, because my leg was hurting a little bit. I can’t really say, but you know you run faster with someone after you than just running by yourself.”

Right now, with the Chargers (1-3) running after almost everybody in the league, Butts is a splash of stability in an offense that is searching for answers, not to mention points. In four games, he has transported his 248 pounds over 329 yards in 70 carries, a 4.7-yard average. He has more than twice as many yards as anybody else who has carried the ball.

Butts was drafted in the seventh round last year and wound up as the team’s leading rusher with 683 yards in 170 carries, a 4.0-yard average.

The thing is, he’s not the least bit slow, particularly considering he’s as big as a linebacker. So he doesn’t really have anything to hide, which brings us brings us back to the 40.

“He’s in the 4.5s,” Charger Coach Dan Henning said. “There’s never been a question about his speed. For a big guy like that, I bet he’s as fast as any guy that size in the league.”

As for Butts’ claim that he runs faster against the opponent than he does against the clock, Henning isn’t surprised.

“Most people do,” Henning said. “You ever see a quarterback run after a guy after he’s intercepted a pass? One guy’s running for a touchdown, the other guy’s running for his job.”

Which brings us to Billy Joe Tolliver, who readily admits he couldn’t keep up with Butts in a foot race.

“He’s faster than most quarterbacks,” Tolliver said.

But faster than you?

“Barely,” Tolliver said, smiling. “I’m a pretty fast guy.”

And Tolliver’s time for the 40?

“Five flat, if you must know,” he said, smiling.

Not bad . . . for a nose guard.

Anyway, Tolliver is glad to have Butts behind him. Presure comes in many forms when you’re a second-year quarterback on an offense that is averaging only slightly more than 15 points a game. Butts’ steady running provides a little relief.

“It makes it a lot easier knowing that any time the guy could break one,” Tolliver said. “You kind of want to keep giving him the ball, because you never can tell when it’s going to happen.”

It happened Sunday in the Chargers’ 17-7 loss to Houston. In the middle of one of many struggles to get near the end zone, Butts burst through the middle and broke outside for a 42-yard gain, which gave the Chargers first and 10 at Houston’s 25 midway through the fourth quarter.

Like most of the rest, that drive stalled when the Chargers self-destructed inside the 20. Tolliver was sacked and threw two incomplete passes, and Fuad Reveiz--check the waiver wire--missed a field goal from 27 yards.

Someday soon, the offense may mature and provide Butts with some assistance. Until then, he plans to continue his own process of strict self-evaluation.

“No one can be satisfied with what they do regardless of whether they have a magnificent day or not,” he said. “They can look at the film and say ‘Wow, I could have picked up five extra yards there.’ You know, you’re never really pleased.”