Tracking the Changes to the San Diego Chargers Roster

We know the story by now. The San Diego Chargers' have been decimated on the offensive line and have faced injuries elsewhere that have completely changed the face of the team.

Just for curiousity's sake, let's compare the current roster with what the Chargers headed into the season with and see how much it has changed.

Quarterback
Philip Rivers
Billy Volek

Unchanged, luckily.

Running Back
Ryan Mathews
Mike Tolbert
Jordan Todman
Jacob Hester

Todman cleared waivers and ended up on the practice squad, swapping spots with Curtis Brinkley (who is now on the roster).

Wide Receiver
Vincent Jackson
Malcom Floyd
Patrick Crayton
Vincent Brown
Richard Goodman
Bryan Walters

Exactly the same. Walters has been on and off the practice squad a couple of times, but is currently on the roster.

Tight End
Antonio Gates
Randy McMichael
Kory Sperry

Unchanged.

Offensive Line
Jeromey Clary
Louis Vasquez
Nick Hardwick
Kris Dielman
Marcus McNeill
Tyronne Green
Brandyn Dombrowski
Scott Mruczkowski

Mooch, McNeill and Dielman are all on IR. They've been replaced by Colin Baxter, Stephen Schilling, Jared Gaither, Tony Moll and Ikechuku Ndukwe. I imagine bumping the number of O-linemen on the roster was due to the staggering pace of season-ending injuries that was occurring, along with guys like Vasquez and Green playing injured.

Defensive Line
Luis Castillo
Antonio Garay
Jacques Cesaire
Corey Liuget
Vaughn Martin
Cam Thomas

A surprisingly healthy bunch. Castillo was IR'd today, replaced by Damik Scafe, and Tommie Harris was added to the bunch as an experiment that is working out nicely. Another group that has one more member now than what it started with. Where are the groups that have less players now?

Inside Linebacker
Donald Butler
Stephen Cooper
Na'il Diggs
Andrew Gachkar
Jonas Mouton
Takeo Spikes

Cooper was IR'd early, his spot has been taken by the unforgettable Bront Bird. Mouton never played a down of regular-season football before being IR'd, his spot remains empty. Here's our first group that has gotten smaller. Exciting Update(!): The Chargers have thrown Damik Scafe back to the Practice Squad wolves, signing Nate Triplett to the team.

Outside Linebacker
Antwan Barnes
Larry English
Travis LaBoy
Shaun Phillips
Darryl Gamble

This group hasn't changed dramatically. Gamble is on the practice squad, but not the roster. Larry English's spot has been taken by free agent acquisition Everette Brown.

Cornerback
Quentin Jammer
Antoine Cason
Marcus Gilchrist
Shareece Wright
Dante Hughes

No chance at all.

Safety
Eric Weddle
Bob Sanders
Steve Gregory
Darrell Stuckey
C.J. Wallace

Still kind of amazed that Wallace made the team. He's gone now, and Bob Sanders was predictably placed on IR. Paul Oliver was signed to replace Sanders. Down from 5 to 4.

Special Teams
Mike Scifres
Nate Kaeding
Mike Windt

Windt has had a good year replacing David Binn. I haven't had a chance to point that out until just now. Kaeding was injured on the first play of the season and has been replaced by Nick Novak, maybe permanently.

To review, the following players were lost to IR:
Stephen Cooper
Kris Dielman
Larry English
Nate Kaeding
Marcus McNeill
Jonas Mouton
Scott Mruczkowski
Bob Sanders
Luis Castillo
Nick Polk (who may or may not be the same person as C.J. Wallace)

Players that weren't with the team in Week 1 but are on the roster now include:
Curtis Brinkley (replaced Jordan Todman)
Tony Moll (replaced Kris Dielman)
Colin Baxter (replaced Scott Mruczkowski)
Stephen Schilling
Jared Gaither (replaced Marcus McNeill)
Ikechuku Ndukwe
Damik Scafe (replaced Luis Castillo)
Tommie Harris
Bront Bird (replaced Jonas Mouton/Stephen Cooper)
Everette Brown (replaced Larry English)
Paul Oliver (replaced Bob Sanders)
Nick Novak (replaced Nate Kaeding)

Could there be some gems in that bunch? Sure. All of the offensive linemen picked up, except for Ndukwe, have had good moments. Tommie Harris looks pretty good. Everette Brown still has potential. Novak might've been better than Kaeding, in some respects.

Still, not what I would call an unusual amount of changeover for an entire roster. Just a lot of injuries within the offensive line and the loss of a couple of very key defensive guys in Sanders and Castillo.