San Diego Chargers All-Decade DE, Part One

Did you miss me? You can't blame me for not being around. With SDSU basketball in the Sweet Sixteen, Padres baseball around the corner and the weather finally getting nice....the only thing that would pull me back into the world of Chargers football would be Chargers news. Of which there's been none. So we'll continue to build out all-decade team until something more pressing and exciting comes along.

This should be a fun one. Again, we're doing the voting the same way for Defensive Ends as we did for Middle Linebackers. Everyone gets thrown into the first vote, and then everyone gets thrown in the second vote except for the winner of the first vote. So if your favorite San Diego Chargers Defensive End is not highlighted in this post, it's because I'm saving him for the next one.

Luis Castillo: My first memory of Castillo was being woken up by a ringing cell phone on draft day, after a long night, and my father asking "Who the heck is this guy we drafted? Is he on steroids?" A career that started as a bit of a roller-coaster, at least in terms of his relationship with the fans, has never stopped being one. He started with three great, although shortened by injury, seasons that got him a big contract extension. Since then he hasn't quite been the force he was, mostly because Shawne Merriman stopped commanding double-teams on the other side of the defense, but has managed to stay on the field and is still seen as one of the better 3-4 DEs in football. In terms of the average Chargers fan, he's gone from a star in the making to overpaid, injury-prone scrub to somewhere in between now.

His best season statistically was 2006, when he collected 38 tackles, 7 sacks, 1 interception and recovered a fumble.

See the rest of the candidates by click the link below the poll.

Raylee Johnson: Raylee has one of those names that if you bring it up in conversation with a long-time Chargers fan they'll laugh and say "There's a blast from the past!" You would think Raylee wasn't much of a player, based upon how little he gets talked about, but he was actually quite good. He actually had 10.5 sacks in 1999, but that doesn't factor into his nomination here because that wasn't during this decade. 

His best season of this past decade was 2001, when he had 37 tackles, 9.5 sacks, 1 defended pass, 2 recovered fumbles and a defensive touchdown.

Marcellus Wiley: He just barely made this list. Remember when John Butler showed up in San Diego and started bringing Buffalo Bills guys with him? I believe Wiley was part of that, and in his first season with the team he made the Pro Bowl on the strength of 13 sacks. Hope was risen, the Chargers had a pass-rushing star finally....and then, according to rumor, Marcellus' head got a little too big and it must've slowed him down. He had 6 sacks the following season, and then never more than 3 in any season despite being a starter.

His Pro Bowl season stats: 47 tackles, 13 sacks, 2 defended passes, 5 forced fumbles.