With the National Football League Draft less than two weeks away, teams are in the process of improving their rosters. Hands down the most important position on the football field is the starting quarterback as there are only 32 of them in the NFL. In 2004, the San Diego Chargers entered the NFL Draft with the first overall pick. The Chargers had every intention to draft quarterback Eli Manning who didn’t want to play in San Diego. The Chargers drafted Manning, but later on that day they traded him to the New York Giants in a deal that included quarterback Philip Rivers who was the fourth overall pick of that draft.
Philip Rivers, Drew Bress
In his first two years with the Chargers, Rivers was mainly a spectator as he watched behind quarterback Drew Brees. But when the Chargers let Brees leave town in 2006 to sign with the New Orleans Saints, it was now Rivers’ time to shine in San Diego.
In 2006, Rivers threw 22 touchdowns to just 9 interceptions in helping the Chargers go 14-2. In each of Rivers’ first four seasons as the Chargers starting quarterback, the team made the playoffs. But in the past five years, the Chargers have only made the postseason once. Recently the Chargers front office hasn’t exactly put the best team around Rivers which is a good reason why they’ve mainly been watching the playoffs from home. In two years under current head coach Mike McCoy, the Chargers are 18-14 with one playoff appearance. After leading the National Football League in completion percentage in 2013, (69.5), Rivers led the league in interceptions last season with 18. Rivers is 33-years of age and the Chargers could be ready to move on from him.
Marcus Mariota
The rumor mill is swirling as the Chargers have expressed interest in former University of Oregon Ducks quarterback Marcus Mariota. According to most draft experts, Mariota is the second best quarterback available in the NFL Draft and he’s intriguing to the Chargers. But is the grass truly greener on the other side of the fence for the Chargers?
Rivers is 33-years of age, but with him you know what you’re getting. For his career, Rivers has 36,655 passing yards and 252 touchdowns which are both second in Chargers franchise history only to Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts. Rivers has tremendous moxy and he’s been the face of the Chargers franchise for quite some time now and he also has some football left in the tank. With Mariota, the jury will be out on him as he’ll be adjusting to life as an NFL quarterback. Mariota is also coming from a spread offense in college as Oregon and things are a little bit different in the pros. On top of that there would be added pressure on Mariota in San Diego to replace Rivers as he is a fan favorite.
Rivers has put up good stats in his career, but he’ll always be compared to Manning and Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. All three quarterbacks were taken in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft. Where Manning and Roethlisberger have each won two Spuer Bowl Championships, Rivers has yet to raise the coveted Vince Lombardi Trophy. Unlike Rivers, Manning and Roethlisberger have played for organizations that have been committed to winning and putting teams around them while the Chargers have always come off as a team that surprises you if they win. San Diego is not a big media market either as it is nestled in Southern California and roughly three hours south of Los Angeles. Roethlisberger and Manning get their fair share of coverage; especially Manning who plays in the biggest media market in the country.
At this point the story surrounding Rivers and Mariota is more than just another rumor as it is something that the Chargers front office hasn’t come out and denied. But if the Chargers truly want Mariota, they should do whatever they have to in order to acquire him. Heading into the NFL Draft, the Chargers own the 17th overall selection and it’s going to take more than just that for them to land Mariota as he’s expected to be gone early. The Chargers need to trade Rivers as you never want to hang your team leader out to dry only to come back and claim that it was a late April Fool’s Day joke.
The Chargers have had a history of issues at the draft and issues with their quarterbacks. In 1983, former Chargers owner Eugene Klein was attempting to make a trade at the NFL Draft that year to acquire the draft rights for quarterback John Elway from the Baltimore Colts. Klein was doing this when Fouts was asking for more money. In 2004, the Chargers would bring Rivers on board when they weren’t all-in on Brees as Manning told them no. And who can forget the fiasco of the 1998 NFL Draft when the Chargers used the second overall pick on quarterback Ryan Leaf who is one of the biggest draft busts in league history? The Leaf fiasco would make the Chargers pass on quarterback Michael Vick in 2001 in favor of running back LaDanian Tomlinson who did go on to become the franchise’s all-time leading rusher.
Rivers could be a huge boost to a team that just needs a solid starting quarterback to get them over the hump and he might be better off with a new team as he would be extra motivated to prove to everyone that he can still get it done. But with the track record of the Chargers, this Mariota-Rivers saga will not end well for the Chargers.
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