The Chargers won just five games last year with Philip Rivers starting all 16 games. In the AFC West, they went 0-6. Shame on them if they can’t clear that bar this year, whether it’s Tyrod Taylor or someone else at quarterback.
The tougher test for Team Spanos will be this: Finding a quarterback to build around for the long haul if it’s not Taylor, 30.
Rivers was accurate, tough, smart and seasoned to a rare degree when he entered the NFL, making him a better prospect than any quarterback available to the Chargers this week, assuming they don’t climb to No. 1 to get LSU alum Joe Burrow.
A coach’s son, Rivers led North Carolina State to four bowl games, earning MVP honors in all four.
He earned higher scouting grades than Burrow in many instances, to say nothing of Justin Herbert, Jordan Love and other quarterbacks in the 2020 draft class.
A special case in this year’s group is Tua Tagovailoa, the former Alabama star. If not for his medicals, he would grade out near Rivers, said former NFL scout Daniel Jeremiah. The NFL Network broadcaster added: “In terms of just talent, it’s not a terribly far-fetched comparison.”
A checkered health profile spoils that debate.
Tagovailoa had at least four surgeries in his college career, leading several NFL teams to drop him off their draft board, reported The Athletic’s Bob McGinn last week.
Rivers, even with his odd throwing form, was a clean prospect when he went fourth in the 2004 draft, placing him between two future Super Bowl winners in Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger, who went first and 11th, respectively.
A.J. Smith brought Rivers to San Diego by selecting Manning with the No. 1 pick and sending him to the Giants for a package that included three other draft choices.
Former Colts scouting executive Tom Telesco replaced Smith in January 2013, becoming a first-time GM. He hasn’t taken a quarterback in the first four rounds of his seven drafts. The Chargers’ 5-11 record last year gave Telesco the sixth pick in Thursday’s first round and the fifth pick in Friday’s second round.
Telesco going large on a quarterback in this draft could require trading up. Likely, it would mean having the draftee sit behind Taylor, who backed up Rivers last year. Taylor started in front of rookie Baker Mayfield with the 2018 Browns before a concussion sidelined him in the third game. The Chargers are his fourth NFL team.
Coach Anthony Lynn likes quarterbacks who can scoot, a rising NFL trait because coaches have learned to make better use of mobile quarterbacks.
Several quarterbacks the Chargers have studied for this draft, including Oklahoma alum Jalen Hurts, sprint much faster than Rivers did 15 years ago.
Oregon coaches restricted Herbert’s running for most of his career. Encouraged to cut it loose in the Rose Bowl four months ago, Herbert ran for big gains to drive Oregon past Wisconsin.
Herbert ran the 40-yard dash in 4.68 seconds at the NFL Scouting Combine. In comparison, scouts hand-timed Rivers at about 5.1 in predraft workouts in 2004. Herbert may have the stronger arm, too.
In several areas that correlate to consistent NFL success, the nod goes to 2004’s Rivers.
“Philip was naturally gifted with layering the ball, throwing with touch and anticipation,” said Jeremiah, who was a Ravens scout in 2004.
Love had an uneven career at Utah State but has traits that could land him in the first or second round.
Said Jeremiah: “He has more physical tools than Philip, just with the ability to make so many incredible throws with extreme velocity from all different platforms, falling away and arm angles. But, he was nowhere near as consistent or as accurate as Philip.”
Love ran a 4.74 at the NFL combine while weighing 224 pounds. He is 6-3 3/4.
That Love was cited for marijuana possession Dec. 14, 2019 — a case later dismissed — would’ve carried more weight in 2004.
Jeremiah, who called it a “poor decision all-around,” noted Love’s mistake came six days before Utah State’s bowl game, a 51-41 loss to Kent State in which Love completed 30 of 39 passes for 317 yards with three touchdowns and an interception.
“The timing of it was not good,” the draft analyst said. “So, it definitely matters. You’ve got to have that discussion with him.”
While Jeremiah said the error in judgment won’t change Love’s draft slot, the Chargers are more conservative than most NFL teams about investing in players who have created that kind of scrutiny.
Rivers reached eight Pro Bowls and six Super Bowl tournaments after Smith fell hard for him.
The Chargers quarterback Rivers replaced, Drew Brees, a John Butler selection in 2001, stands first in NFL career touchdown passes, completions and yards.
NFL groupthink about height contributed to Brees not getting drafted until the first pick of the second round.
Out of Purdue, where he led the school to its first Rose Bowl in 32 years, he measured only 5-11 7/8 in his first Hula Bowl testing and 6-0 1/4 at the combine. Brees threw with rare accuracy in college. He became the Big Ten’s career leader for passing yards (11,792) and touchdown passes (90) despite recording only 272 yards as a freshman.
He wasn’t rifle-armed, but in a private workout chucked a pass nearly 70 yards as Chargers head coach Mike Riley and coordinator Norv Turner looked on.
Brees leading the 2009 New Orleans Saints to the franchise’s only Super Bowl victory may have encouraged the Seahawks to draft 5-10 1/2 Russell Wilson three years later. In turn, Wilson taking the Seahawks to a pair of Super Bowls contributed to a pair of short quarterbacks, Mayfield (6-foot 1/2) and Kyler Murray (5-10), going first in the past two NFL drafts.
It’s a sign of the times that Tagovailoa’s 6-foot stature is far less of a thing than the lefty’s performances with Alabama. “He plays the game with really, really good eyes,” Jeremiah said. “He’s very accurate. Good decision-maker. Poised. Throws with touch.”
The lefty posted a whopping 138.1 NFL passer rating in his three-year career. Not only slick at run-pass option plays, he nailed several deep throws for the Crimson Tide. The Hawaiian took the job from Hurts, a 4.59 runner who improved his passing last year with Oklahoma.
Herbert, a 236-pounder who stands 6-6 1/4, occupies the tall end of the QB spectrum. And that may not be a great sign. The only quarterback that tall to win a Super Bowl was Joe Flacco at 6-6 3/8.
Certainly if Telesco were to draft Herbert he would expect him to outperform the two very tall quarterbacks drafted by Broncos Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway: 6-6 7/8 Brock Osweiler, a second-round choice in 2012; and 6-6 5/8 Paxton Lynch, a first-round selection in 2016.
Rivers stood plenty tall at 6-5, and never missed a start in 14 years.
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