Daniel Jeremiah makes comparisons of top draft QBs to former Chargers

On Thursday, NFL Network analyst and color commentator for the Chargers Daniel Jeremiah held a conference call to answer a plethora of NFL Draft-related questions. The call was over two hours long and covered a wide-range of topics, including team fits, suspected rumors, past draft grades, and current speculation on the events to take place in less than a week’s time.

Near the end of the call, someone asked DJ a question regarding his thoughts on the top quarterbacks (minus Joe Burrow) and whether or not either of those guys are coming out of college with similar hype to that of former Chargers quarterbacks Philip Rivers and Drew Brees.

Here is DJ’s answer in it’s entirety. He touches on Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert, and Jordan Love.

DANIEL JEREMIAH: “Yeah, I was in my apartment in El Cajon right out of college when Drew Brees got picked and I remember we were moving furniture — I think we were moving into the apartment. So I was moving furniture that day and the first thing I did was set up my TV to see who the Chargers were going to take, so I was not working with the team at that point in time. But my first year in scouting was the Philip Rivers draft, so I remember that one, and obviously they’ve had tremendous stability there.”

“In terms of how do these guys stack up with Philip, I would say with Tua, not nearly as big, but I would say in terms of grade, I would say there’s some similarity there in terms of playing the game with really, really good eyes, very accurate, good decision makers, poise, touch throwers. I think Philip coming out had a little bit stronger arm and Tua moves around a little bit better. But I don’t think that’s a terribly far-fetched comparison there in terms of just talent.”

“And then with Herbert, I would just say Philip was just a more natural — even though it’s an unnatural motion, he was naturally gifted with layering the ball, throwing with touch, anticipation. I think Philip was a little bit ahead there. “

“And then Jordan Love, Jordan Love has more physical tools than Philip does just with the ability to make so many incredible throws with extreme velocity from all different platforms and falling away and arm angles but nowhere near as consistent or as accurate as Philip. That’s who I can compare them to with Philip. I say that having seen so much of Philip over the years, but that year to be totally honest, I was on the staff there in Baltimore but I was not assigned to watch him. So I just sat in the room and listened to the reports that year.”

Is it telling at all that Jeremiah barely had anything to say about Herbert? I know Todd McShay has made it clear that he firmly believes Love will go ahead of Herbert and I wonder if DJ has softened to that line of thinking, too. Either way, it sounds like Tua is going to be the closest guy the Chargers could draft to bring them another long-time starting quarterback for their franchise.