Hello San Diego Chargers Fans,

GreaZzy from Revenge of the Birds here, and don't worry I come in peace. Since the season is over for us Cards fans(and unfortunately your season is over as well) I have shifted my focus to the upcoming NFL draft. I really like working on mock drafts, and trying to make the most realistic and accurate draft possible. That is where you guys come in.

I'm currently working on a chart which has every teams needs going into this off-season, both major needs and minor needs. I would be so grateful if you Chargers fans would help me complete this chart more accurately by providing your insight to the San Diego Chargers needs going into the draft. Any information regarding draft strategy of your organization would be helpful as well.

Thanks in advance, and better luck next year in your season!

In the 2004 NFL draft the San Diego Chargers had the number 1 overall pick. The top Quarterback in everyones eyes was the little brother of Peyton Manning (the best regular season qb of all time) Eli Manning.

Eli told the chargers dont draft me because i dont want to play for you guys, what did the chargers do?.. they drafted him. The Giants, who was the team that Eli wanted to go to drafted a qb that was a coaches son out of NC State... Philip Rivers. Chargers and Giants made a draft day trade of swapping the two qb's and also in return the chargers got the rights to Shawne Merriman.

In the beginning this looked like a great deal to the Chargers because they got a young premier pass rusher and a qb for the future since Chargers still had Drew Brees on the team, and Giants look like they got a (i really dislike Eli so this comment isnt nice but i honestly dont care) shitty qb.

But lets fast forward to the 2007 NFL playoffs... Eli and the Giants make it into the playoffs as a wild card team and go on the road to beat the John Gruden led Bucs, the Tony Romo Cowgirls, and going up to Lambeau Field and beating the 13-3 Favre led Packers in the NFC Championship game.

Rivers and the Chargers on the other hand had one of their best playoff runs in the past 10 years when they beat a all he does is win Vince Young led Titans team, to then go on the road to Peytons House and beat the colts on a game winning drive by backup qb.. Billy Volek, because Rivers tore his ACL in the game. AFC Championship game, 1 game from the superbowl, the Chargers go to New England to play the undefeated Patriots. Philip Rivers played with a torn ACL, L.T. one game away from his first superbowl look uninterested from the sideline while sitting on a bench with his helmet on and a jacket covering him from the cold (L.T. is my favorite player of all time and i know he was hurt in the game but he could of should a little interest and been at least a cheerleader to his teammates). Chargers lost the game because of their lack of scoring touchdowns in the redzone. So undefeated Patriots against Eli and the Giants in Arizona for the superbowl... but wouldnt of it been great to see Eli vs. Rivers in the Superbowl to see which one would show their the better player? (and also actually seeing the chargers in the superbowl.. had to put that in their sorry).

Well we all know what happened the dline for the gmen played AMAZING and Eli made one of the most memorable superbowl plays of all time and little brother Manning won a superbowl... but does this mean Eli is better than Rivers?

NO! Eli deserves his credit and yah he does have the ring that Rivers doesnt have, but lets be realistic now... Rivers is one of the most accurate passers in the NFL and Eli is one of the most inconsistent passers in the NFL. Rivers is a fiery competitor that refuses to lose, while Eli just mopes around and puts his hand up everytime something wrong happens. Rivers has thrown for 4 straight 4,000 yard seasons, while Eli just has 2 straight 4,000 yard seasons. If you compare the weapons that both have, Rivers just had Gates, untill Vincent Jackson started emerging the past 2 years, and Eli had Plax (which i feel like he threw him the ball on almost every play, especially in the NFC championship game in 2007 up in Green Bay) and he had a slot receiver in Steve Smith, and now has players like Victor Cruz and Hakeen Nicks. Dont get me wrong i think Eli is a great player but just because he has a superbowl ring and Rivers doesnt, does not make him a better QB than Philip Rivers.

Poll

Who is the best QB in the NFL right now?

11%

Tom Brady

23 votes

2%

Peyton Manning

5 votes

0%

Ben Roethlisberger

0 votes

29%

Drew Brees

57 votes

15%

Philip Rivers

29 votes

3%

Eli Manning

7 votes

4%

Tim Tebow

9 votes

32%

Aaron Rodgers

63 votes

193 votes | Poll has closed

Another year the San Diego Chargers have missed the playoffs with one of the most talented teams in the NFL. Their were two teams that most teams in the NFL were scared to play against if they could make the playoffs... the eagles and the CHARGERS. The bolts did opposite of what most charger fans are used to this year... they started off fast with a 4-1 start, it wasnt pretty but previous years these would of been losses but they were wins this year. But then everything went downhill with 6 straight losses.

Turnovers, giving up big plays in the air and questionable play calling was the cause for this. Going into a monday night game against the jags on December 5th with a 4-7 record, it seemed like the season was over and Turner was coaching his last games of his tenure. But the chargers showed up as usual in december and played how we thought they could. Another win the following week against Buffalo and suddenly they were right back in the playoff race... slim chance but still a chance.

Needing to win out basically and hope for some losses by the broncos, the chargers could make the playoffs with a usual december winning streak. Baltimore comes into SD on a sunday night and what happens... Chargers play one of their best overall games ive ever seen from efficient play on offense to great D. Woah the chargers are now the team everyone doesnt want to play and find themselves with 2 games left on the road to make the playoffs. Christmas eve, a saturday game at detroit, all any charger fan wants when they wake up in the morning is a buffalo win against denver and a chargers win against the lions.

One of our wishes were granted as the bills blew out the Tebow led broncos, and our second wish should come true also right? chargers have won three in a row and coming off their best win of the year and the lions arent as good as the start of the seaosn with no running game and a horrible pass defense.. should be a win right? not a easy win but a game chargers could win. To sum up the game against the lions the chargers played no defense against megatron and decided to play with no emotion at all when u have a chance to make the playoffs... felt like dejavu for me at least cause this happened last year, chargers had a chance to make the playoffs by winning a week 16 match up against the bengals who had nothing to play for, what happened then? we lost... Back to 2011 and the chargers are not going to make the playoffs because of this loss and us fans have to find a new team in the playoffs to cheer for.. maybe the saints cause our xquarterback is breaking records to our xplaymaker that our current qb loved so much....

Hey but at least we ended the season by beating our rival team the raiders and making sure they dont make the playoffs and ending our season at 8-8... all that win did was screw the chargers over with giving Spanos hope to bring back Turner and Smith and dropping us to the 18th pic in the draft, but if they lost they would of had the 11th pick. The only positive of the offseason for the chargers was firing manusky.. he took the number 1 defense in the NFL and made them 19th overall. Maybe next year will make a superbowl... how bout we just try to win our division and make the playoffs first...

Poll

Who will you be rooting for in the playoffs since the charges arent in it?

50%

Saints

31 votes

0%

Patriots

0 votes

12%

Broncos

8 votes

30%

49ers

19 votes

1%

Packers

1 votes

4%

Ravens

3 votes

62 votes | Poll has closed

Well here we are again. Sitting in front of our t.v. sets and watching other teams playing in the playoffs. Second year in a row feeling the powder blues. The dynamic duo of Smith and Turner will be back for another year of ????

Maybe more of the same as last year or if were lucky, we kick in the door to the playoffs. I mean we did see some improvements with Turner's play calling (more aggressive) and better clock management towards the end of the season right? I do agree with the decision of firing Manusky because I just couldn't stand anymore of his bad defensive play calling and looking so dumfounded with his mouth agape in the sidelines. But what about John Pagano? I'm really interested in getting you guy's opinion on this coach. I think with better choice of draft picks by A.J. and continued improvement by Norv, we should see a better season. We definitely need a solid pass rusher and a tough strong safety in this year's draft. Gaither was a lucky (desperate) find by A.J. and maybe breaking his string of bad luck decisions when he acquired him. Oh and by the way, less interceptions thrown by Rivers will also go a long way.

Hey guys, I know I'm all over the place with this post and I'm sorry... But it's really hard to concentrate and pinpoint what we actually need to reach the playoffs this year. I know one thing for sure though, if the team start slow this year at the beginning or even lose two or three in a row I think were looking at Bill Cowher and Bill Polian. But then again........more powder blues?

You know I really must say it has been very enjoyable discussing Charger Nation with all of you these last 5 or so months. We have cheered together, we have cried together, we have b'ched, moaned, and complained together. But the season is over now and it is our duty as fans and arm-chair GMs to begin the process of restoring our team to its once feared status in the league (when was that again?). So I invite all of you to participate and who knows maybe ol' AJ will stop through and consider some of our opinions.........

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Via NFL.com, reports in a phone interview with a San Diego radio station that Ladanian Tomlinson wants out of NY and may consider retirement. Why not bring him back to SD where he stamped his ticket to the HOF! It would be great to see LT in Charger blue again and it deffinately could'nt hurt in the development of Ryan Mathews. Yes, I know LT has lost more than a step but there are other things to consider here: He is a Charger and forever will be (in my heart), he has a great work ethic, he is a veteran that knows the game better than most, he would inspire the Charger fans to be back in the seats for next year, we deffinately need a back that can catch out of the backfield and last but not least.......even at 32 he is still better than half the running backs in the leauge! So, come on rockhead (Smith) give the man a call! Thoughts?????

So I guess you have heard by now that the Chargers defense coordinator has been blamed for the woes of everyone in Charger nation. I can't say I'm surprised. Rumor has it that the LB coach Pagano is the favorite to replace him. What are your thoughts on him? I hear a lot of people (Charger fans) say that he should have got the job after Rivera left anyways...

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Here are some quotes from each press conference following the Chargers disastrous 2010 and 2011 seasons. Can you pick which quotes match which year? Good Luck. Note - seasonal references have been omitted.

A. “These players respect Norv Turner. I think they have great admiration for him. If the players don’t have confidence in their coach, you’re not going to be successful.” Dean Spanos

B. “Norv took over a good team and I think he’s done a good job under some trying circumstances. I hate to make excuses, but I don’t (care). It’s hard to win without players. This year, I’ve never seen anything like it. I know injuries are a (bleep) excuse..." Dean Spanos

C. “The easiest thing in the world is to start over. Who the hell do I go hire? Blow the whole thing up? We’re a pretty good team but we have to make the right moves. It could have been our draft picks or our free-agent moves ..." Dean Spanos

D. “When you have a coach that is competent, loyal and trustworthy and you believe in him, you stay the course,” AJ Smith

answers after the break...

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A Bad move for the chargers and Fans. The chargers must be waiting till they move back to LA to make wholesale changes. What happened to the former Pittsburgh Steelers Coach Bill Cowher or Fisher?

Two years without a playoff game . The owners are not in a win win mode . This is a sad day for the future of the Chargers. The list goes on and on. Remember Fred Dean the best defensive end in football he went to the 49ers to get his superbowl ring, then there's junior Seau to new England, Drew Breeze to New Orleans, Tomlinson to the Jets, Sproles to the Saints , Lights out folks.

blastfromthepast

Chargers fans have spoken. Week after week in pretty much every public poll regarding the Chargers, fans are in an outrage practically pleading for Spanos to get rid of A.J Smith and Norv Turner.

They have taken a very good team and prevented them from making the playoffs in the weakest division in the NFL.

" Maybe next year" that has been the motto for Chargers fans since the mid 60's. But now it should be changed to " "our oppinion doesn't matter".

In an abundance of good coaches and GM's that are going to flood the NFL market, the fans of the Chargers get to move back yet another step.

Forget Jon Gruden, forget Bill Cowher, and Jeff Fisher. No, we get a couple of guys that we know can't get it done.

Dean Spanos is the CEO and owner of a business that we fans are buying. Its a business we don't need. It doesn't make us better looking, smarter, feel younger, or improve our lives at all.

So Spanos is kind of like a supplier of a useless product. He relies on the fans solely to support his billion dollar empire, and we have.

I'm not a business man , but I would know that if " The good majority" of my customers aasked me to change my product, I would.

It appears we have no voice as fans, not even against a mediocre coach and a jackass of a GM that prove they cant get it done.

Heres the resume:

A.J Smith.
- Gonna screw up another draft this March.

Also, that little pointless win against the Raiders moved us from 11th to 18th in the draft. Sweet.
It wouldn't matter if we had the number 1 pick, A.J would pick someone nobody ever heard of anyway.

-Will will lose our 11th pro bowler in 4 years - (Vincent Jackson).
-

Won't take any shots in free agency

Norv Turner:
-Celebrated his 100th victory this year. Well after he recorded his100th loss.

-Nice guy- Players like him. This is because he doesn't discipline them.
Want proof? Read the Twitter page for the Chargers. Before their game with the Lions , with their playoff hopes on the line, before and after the game, there was dozens of Chargers players tweets

They mostly consisted of "tennis shoes, new cars, "hoes" and some jibberish that is almost unrecognizable. Only one Chargers player ( before or after the game) even mentioned football.

Ok, Read a disciplined teams twitter page ie. Steelers, Patriots, Packers.

There isn't muched because (THEY ARE FOCUSED ON FOOTBALL).
Thats the coaches job.

Greg Manusky-

Huge pickup from the (3-13) 49ers. Inherited the NFL's number 1 ranked defense, and turned the group into the 19th overall.
Meanwhile his 49ers moved to a top defense and a 14-2 record.

(This will be the perrenial fall guy for the Chargers this year). Last year it was Steve Crosby.

Jeff Hurd. (Conditioning coach)

Leads NFL in injuries three years in a row. Keeps job.
HOW?

Kevin Acee- (MR. IRRELEVANT)
Wrote several articles about Norv and A.J being gone, and discussing who would be in San Diego next.
On NFL Network today talking about Spanos' good decision in keeping them both.

Chargers fans-

Pissed off, and ignored AGAIN-

So here's the same back to you Spanos. Im gonna keep my two thousand dollars next year. Instead of buying your product, I'm spending it on my kids. I wont go to a game until you get 10 wins in the column. I know Spanos couldn't care less about the fans that support his business anyway, wer'e just here to wear the jerseys, drink the 9 dollar beer, and support a organization that doesn't care we exist. Enjoy the blackouts!