The San Diego Chargers don’t exactly have a heralded history of finding sleepers in the draft. It’s one of the primary reasons that they have yet to win a Super Bowl. With that said, this franchise has picked up some of the best players in the history of the league at certain positions.
From Junior Seau and Drew Brees to LaDainian Tomlinson, the Chargers have hit on quite a few players. Here is our list of the five-best NFL draft picks in Chargers history.
1. Dan Fouts, Quarterback (Third Round, 64th Pick in 1973)
Fouts ranks 11th on the all-time NFL list in passing yards and 14th in touchdown passes. He made six Pro Bowls and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame back in 1993. All things equal, he’s legitimately one of the top-five players to ever suit up for the Chargers.
Coming out of Oregon in 1973, Fouts wasn’t necessarily considered an elite pro prospect. In this, he was the sixth quarterback off the board in that draft, behind the likes of Bert Jones, Gary Huff, Gary Keithley and Joe Ferguson. Meanwhile, Fouts set the NFL record for single-season passing yards three consecutive years under the Air Coryell pass-first offense that San Diego implemented. Not too shabby for someone who wasn’t considered a starter-caliber quarterback when he entered the league some 40 years ago.
For this, Fouts deserves to be No. 1 on our list of the five-best NFL draft picks in Chargers history.
2. Rodney Harrison, Safety (Fifth Round, 145th Pick in 1994)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0is3rf-TA6c
Speaking of steals, Harrison was the 28th defensive back off the board in the 1994 NFL draft. Coming out of Western Illinois where he broke the program’s all-time tackle record, this future All-Pro wasn’t well known around the scouting community. He joined the Chargers during the AFC Championship winning 1994 campaign, but only saw action on special teams. The following season, Harrison put up five interceptions in a limited role for Bobby Ross’ squad.
From there on out, it was history.
Harrison started 97 games in his final seven seasons with the Chargers, earning two Pro Bowl appearances in the process. He recorded 100-plus tackles seven times in his career and won a Super Bowl title with the New England Patriots in 2003. The 10 defensive backs selected before Harrison in 1994 combined for 115 less starts than the former Charger and Patriot.
3. Ernie Ladd, Defensive Tackle (15th Round, 119th Pick in 1961 AFL Draft)
Ladd only played five seasons with the San Diego Chargers, but he started all 70 games during that span. He earned AFL All-Star nods during his first four years in the league and won the league championship in 1963 when San Diego defeated the Boston Patriots 51-10 in the league title game.
Despite all this success, Ladd had a up-and-down (mostly down) relationship with San Diego’s front office and head coach Sid Gillman. Ladd was ruled a free agent following the 1965 season and ended up signing with the Houston Oilers, where he found nowhere near the same success. Within just three years he was out of the league and pursuing a career in wrestling. This doesn’t take away the fact that for a five-year span, Ladd was among the most dominating defensive linemen in either the AFL or the NFL.
4. Junior Seau, Linebacker (First Round, Fifth Pick in 1990)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT_Qxszfa_s
Like every team around the NFL, San Diego has missed on its fair share of first-round picks. The selection of Junior Seau in the first round of the 1990 draft wasn’t one of those misses. Coming off a 6-10 campaign in 1989, San Diego passed up on Andre Ware, who it was said to be considering, in order to take this All-American from Southern California. Some questioned the move, as the Chargers needed a franchise quarterback after youngster Billy Joe Tolliver and veteran Jim McMahon struggled the previous season.
Those skeptics were quickly muted as Seau 15 games in his rookie season before earning the first of what would be 12 Pro Bowl appearances as a member of the Chargers. When all was said and done, Seau finished as the Chargers all-time leaders in tackles, Pro Bowl appearances and All-Pro honors. He earned NFL All-Decade honors in the 1990’s and will soon be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
5. LaDainian Tomlinson (First Round, Fifth Pick in 2001)
LT will go down as one of the best running backs to ever play the game. He is fifth on the all-time rushing list and second on the all-time rushing touchdowns list. Tomlinson put up a minimum of 1,100 total yards nine times in his career and 2,000-plus yards three different times. He also scored double-digit touchdowns a record nine consecutive seasons.
There isn’t much more to add here outside of the fact that LT will find himself in Canton his first year of eligibility in 2016. He has to be considered the best player to ever suit up for the Chargers in their 55-year history as a franchise.
Despite being a sure-fire pick in 2001, LT still belongs as one of the five-best NFL draft picks in Chargers history because of his absolute dominance for a long period of time in the offensive backfield.
Photo: USA Today, Stock