Let me start by griping for a second. The term "starter" in the NFL is a silly one. You know how you earn a start in the NFL? You are on the first offensive or defensive play for your team in the game. Seriously, that's all it takes, which is why (if you look at the Chargers team stats) it appears as though the team's offense is run using 2 TEs (17 starts in 9 games) as well as 1 WR (14 starts in 9 games) in most games.
If we're trusting the Chargers stats, and we're not but we just need a starting point (no pun intended), here are how many starts the Chargers WRs have this season:
Malcom Floyd - 6
Legedu Naanee - 5
Patrick Crayton - 1 (See? Meaningless stat.)
Buster Davis - No idea, not listed anymore.
Gary Banks - 2
Seyi Ajirotutu - 0
Let's start over. Let's start with the assumption that there are two WR started for the Chargers in each game, right? Let'a also assume, at lease to this point, that any game Naanee and Floyd played in they were starters. Then we'll dig through the stats, see who was getting the most balls thrown their way, and go from there. It's time to rebuild this list more accurately...
Floyd - 6
Naanee - 5
Crayton - 4
Ajirotutu - 2
Davis - 1
So there you have it, my unofficial-and-probably-wrong list of Chargers WRs by the number of starts this season. Raise your hand if you thought that Seyi Ajirotutu would finish the season with more starts at WR than Buster Davis.
The point of this list is to show you just how amazing Philip Rivers has been (in case you needed that pointed out to you). His top 2 receivers have been gone for a month, and he hasn't missed a beat. This is Reggie Wayne and Anthony Gonzalez both being gone for a month. Randy Moss and Wes Welker disappearing on Tom Brady for 3-4 games. Ben Roethlisberger giving it a go without Mike Wallace or Hines Ward. Any other QB on any other team that is able to put up historic numbers while missing his top 2 receivers for 1/3 of those games would be getting more attention and certainly more fawning over, not that Rivers is complaining.
So, for this week's "Who Powered Through?", it could be Rivers (playing at an elite level with guys that were essentially thought of as scrubs before the season) or it could be the WRs (Crayton and Ajirotutu, who have played like they belonged or Floyd and Naanee, who are fighting through injury to get back on the team).