Who Is the San Diego Chargers' 2014 MVP?

No player on the San Diego Chargers has been as impactful and consistent as safety Eric Weddle has in 2014 for several reasons. He is the leader and signal-caller of the defense. He elevates his performance in crucial moments.

Most importantly, he is the best safety in the NFL.

Without Weddle’s week-to-week brilliance, the Chargers wouldn’t be anywhere near the playoff hunt—instead, they would be a mediocre team and defensive pushover. That is why he is their 2014 MVP.

The numbers from Pro Football Focus back up Weddle’s status as San Diego’s MVP and football’s No. 1 safety. He has the site's highest safety grade (subscription required) at 21.7—the next highest is James Ihedigbo at 14.0. He is tied for ninth at his position with 71 tackles and is sixth in tackling efficiency (the number of attempted tackles per miss). He has allowed zero touchdowns, and quarterbacks have a mediocre rating of 74.8 when targeting his coverage.

Weddle does a bit of everything, and he does it all well. There are few plug-and-play players in the NFL—schemes can make marginal players look great and vice versa—but Weddle could thrive on any team.

However, he is more valuable to the Chargers than he would be anywhere else. He is playing at a higher level than anyone else on the roster, especially on the defensive side. He leads the team in tackles and only trails fellow safety Marcus Gilchrist in defensive snaps played. Weddle dwarfs all other San Diego defenders in terms of impact.

	Total Snaps	Run Defense Grade	Pass Coverage Grade	Tackles	Stops
Eric Weddle	912	8.7	13.3	71	27
Brandon Flowers	714	2.1	6.0	42	13
Corey Liuget	684	2.3	3.9 (pass-rushing grade)	36	27
Jarret Johnson	478	7.8	1.6	30	17

The Chargers defense, which has dealt with several injuries throughout the year, ranks ninth in total yards allowed and 11th in points allowed per game. When compared to the team's 2013 performance, this is surprising. Last season, the defense had to be handicapped by a ball-control offense. Now, the defense is helping out Rivers and Co., and that starts and ends with Weddle. He has spearheaded this turnaround with fewer tackles missed and more heady plays in coverage.

A great example of Weddle’s value to the 2014 Chargers came in Week 8 against the Denver Broncos. Without starting cornerbacks Brandon Flowers and Jason Verrett, he nearly willed the team to a much-needed division victory.

Weddle played his usual sterling coverage and made two potential game-changing plays. He forced a fumble the Broncos recovered and intercepted a Peyton Manning pass that was called back for defensive holding on Marcus Gilchrist. Let’s take a look at the almost-interception, a microcosm of Weddle’s superb 2014 performance:

NFL Game Rewind

NFL Game Rewind

NFL Game Rewind

NFL Game Rewind

A few weeks later, Weddle helped wake up the sagging Chargers with a dominant performance against the St. Louis Rams. The Rams were well-aware of Weddle—offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer gave the four-time All-Pro high praise the Friday leading up to the game, per Joe Lyons of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

"

Great player. [Weddle] drives everything. They do a really good job of disguising coverages, moving pieces around. He’ll be in the middle of the field and then come running down on a blitz. He drives the whole defense in terms of getting them set up, getting them lined up and letting them be multiple.

"

Weddle damaged the Rams offense as a pass-rusher and a run defender (seven tackles made) in a Chargers win. He allowed a mere 5.3 yards per catch on three receptions, according to Rick Drummond of Pro Football Focus. If that wasn’t enough, he recovered a blocked field goal as well.

It was more of the same for Weddle in Week 14 against the New England Patriots. The Chargers’ defensive play-caller pestered superstar tight end Rob Gronkowski—with some help from the linebackers, of course—and did his job in the rare instances Tom Brady threw at his coverage.

Weddle has carried the Chargers this season with excellent game after excellent game. With a league-average safety in his place, San Diego’s 8-6 record would fall to something much, much worse.

The same could be said of Philip Rivers, especially considering the state of the Chargers offense. There is no interior offensive line to speak of. The running game has been a mess without the oft-injured Ryan Mathews. Wide receiver Keenan Allen has been inconsistent amid tough matchups, and the rest of the receivers are best as subsidiary options. Without a surplus of talent around him, Rivers has been forced to carry his fair share of games.

However, Rivers hasn’t had the same week-to-week success like Weddle has, even when factoring in his cohorts. He’s laid passing eggs in losses against the Dolphins, Patriots and Broncos. He’s thrown 13 interceptions this season, tied for fifth with Eli Manning. His quarterback rating is 97.3, which is in the Andrew Luck and Matt Ryan territory—not bad but not great. Rivers has had 16 of his passes dropped, which ranks 26th among quarterbacks, per Pro Football Focus. He has taken 27 sacks, tied for 15th among quarterbacks. 

These stats indicate Rivers may not be getting a ton of help, but he’s not in an Archie Manning-like situation, either.

This was a difficult choice to make. Plenty of arguments could be made for Rivers being more important than Weddle—the value of the quarterback position certainly plays a factor. Ultimately, it came down to Weddle’s dominance at the safety position. None of his competitors has played even close to his level.

Rivers, on the other hand, is playing at an above-average level but has certainly regressed from last season in terms of consistency. He is still immensely valuable to the Chargers. But this season, Weddle gets the narrow victory.

Stats courtesy of Pro Football Focus (subscription required).