San Diego Chargers: Top-10 Elements for 2008

Philip Rivers has been derailed by leg injuries the past two years. The Chargers are going to need every man they've got to continue their mastery of the Colts, while breaking the Patriots' mastery over them.

Today I will list 10 most-important players or groups of players. The order is not overly important, but I did list them in the order that would give me the biggest Fred Sanford-style heart attack if they did go down. 

10. Matt Wilhelm and Stephen Cooper: Luckily for the Chargers, they have a couple of capable guys to back these two up. Cooper has been suspended for the first four games of the 2008 season. These two patrol the middle of the field and had a big hand in stopping those short, quick passes that killed the Chargers in early 2007. They also blitzed occasionally, causing havoc in the backfield.

9. Quentin Jammer and Antonio Cromartie: Jammer is a very solid defender who is good at stuffing the run and is solid in pass coverage. When Drayton Florence was starting on the other side, quarterbacks avoided Quentin Jammer. Cromartie may not be as solid in coverage, but he has the ability to make plays that almost all other defensive backs shouldn’t even attempt to make, unless they want to give up a touchdown. 

Quarterbacks shudder to think that Antonio Cromartie should be even better next year. Jammer has also improved every year. Uh-oh.

8. Chris Chambers/Vincent Jackson: Talking heads like Keyshawn Johnson claimed that the 2006 San Diego Chargers had a weakness at wide receiver. Ridiculous! With Keenan McCardell and Eric Parker at wide receiver—along with Antonio Gates, Lorenzo Neal, and LaDainian Tomlinson—Philip Rivers almost always had someone open. Folks, that’s five All-Pros. Gee, I wonder why the Chargers offense seemed to be unstoppable in mid-2006?

The Bolts were limited in a major way when they parted ways with McCardell, and Parker went down with a toe injury. The Chris Chambers trade solved this problem almost immediately—taking merely a few weeks.

Cam Cameron (not Marty Schottenheimer) made the foolish decision to bench McCardell in favor of Vincent Jackson around the same time Eric Parker was injured in 2006. Philip Rivers became inconsistent immediately and didn’t start playing consistently again until Vincent Jackson stepped up his play in 2007.

While Cam’s decision is going to benefit the Chargers now, it may have cost San Diego a Super Bowl in 2006. Cam was a great coordinator, but let someone else make personnel decisions. 

7. Shawne Merriman: The Chargers have won all five games that Merriman has missed since he became a starter. However, the result was that San Diego became the first team in NFL history to win four games in a row while giving up 24 points or more. Twice they came back from way down to win games, including 21 and 17-point second-half deficits in consecutive weeks—also an NFL first.  

Merriman brings attitude and swagger to the Chargers. Fans and writers of other teams hate him, which means the Chargers love him. Similar to Antonio Cromartie, Merriman makes big time, game-changing plays. Fans and players of other teams may detest Merriman’s “Lights Out” dance, but it fires up the whole team, along with the fans.

Merriman’s big-time pass rush of Peyton Manning—forcing a floundering fourth quarter incompletion on fourth down—was one of the biggest plays in the 2007 NFL Playoffs for the Bolts.

6. Antonio Gates: Gates is LaDainian Tomlinson, Vincent Jackson, Chris Chambers, and Philip Rivers’ best friend. If Gates had been healthy, the Chargers MAY have been able to topple the Patriots, even with all the other injuries. Gates's ability to move without the football and get open using completely unconventional moves has befuddled defenses for years.

If Gates is still hobbling next season, that is a huge blow. Antonio Gates cannot be replaced. If teams have to deal with both Tomlinson and Gates in the red zone, they have a serious problem. If they don’t have to deal with either of them, the Chargers have the problem.

Gates could easily be No. 1 on this list. The combination of Tomlinson and Gates may be the most important offensive duo in the league.

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