With Michael Turner off to the Atlanta Falcons in free agency, the Chargers will look to a couple of draft picks to give LaDainian Tomlinson a break once in a while.  Make no mistake though, Tomlinson will be the focus of the Chargers’ offense once again in 2008.  He played in 16 games (all starts) last season for the Chargers and he carried the ball 315 times for 1,474 yards (4.7 ypc) with 15 TD runs.  He also caught 60 passes for 475 yards (7.9 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  The Chargers would be smart to start to lessen the workload on Tomlinson this season and they will likely do that if one of the rookie RBs step up.  Tomlinson has now played in 111 games (all starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 2,365 times for 10,650 yards (4.5 ypc) with 115 TD runs.  He has also caught 458 passes for 3,375 yards (7.4 avg) with 14 TD grabs.

Rookie Jacob Hester out of LSU is a power runner plain and simple.  He played in 14 games (13 starts) for LSU last season and he carried the ball 225 times for 1,103 yards (4.9 ypc) with 12 TD runs.  Hester also is a good enough blocker and receiver to possibly fit in at fullback on the Chargers.

Fellow rookie Marcus Thomas is also a power runner with nice hands in the passing game.  He will battle Hester and Darren Sproles for the backup carries on the Chargers this season.  Thomas isn’t the fastest runner around but he is one of the toughest between the tackles.

Darren Sproles is just a little guy but he has some great moves in the open field.  He also has the speed to go the distance on any play but his size makes him nothing more than a backup.  Sproles played in 15 games (0 starts) for the Chargers last season and he carried the ball 37 times for 164 yards (4.4 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  He also caught 10 passes for 31 yards (3.1 avg).  Don’t look for Sproles to have a big role on the offense as he’s too valuable on special teams for the Chargers.  Sproles has now played in 30 games (0 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 45 times for 214 yards (4.8 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  He also has caught 13 passes for 41 yards (3.2 avg).

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON:  A

I can’t think of any QB that would have played with a torn ACL in the playoffs like Rivers did against the Patriots in the playoffs.  That showed what kind of warrior he is.  Rivers doesn’t have the strongest arm and he’s not very mobile…..but he’s a winner and that’s all that matters.  Rivers does have nice touch on his passes and he gets rid of the football extremely fast which makes up for his lack of foot speed.  Rivers started all 16 games for the Chargers last season and he completed 277 of 460 passes (60.2%) for 3,152 yards with 21 TD passes and 15 interceptions (82.4 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 29 times for 33 yards (1.1 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Rivers could miss a little bit of time early this season because of his rehab from ACL surgery but Billy Volek is a really good backup QB.  Rivers has now played in 36 games (32 starts) in his NFL career and he has completed 578 of 950 passes (60.8%) for 6,688 yards with 44 TD passes and 25 interceptions (86.6 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 82 times for 76 yards (0.9 ypc) with 1 TD run.

Billy Volek is one of the better backup QBs in the NFL as he could start for some teams.  He might have to start a couple of games this season if Philip Rivers isn’t ready at the start of the season.  Volek has a strong arm but he’s not very mobile as he’s a classic dropback passer.  Volek played in 5 games (0 starts) for the Chargers last season and he completed 3 of 10 passes (30%) for 6 yards with 0 TD passes and 1 interception (0.0 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 11 times for -7 yards (-0.6 ypc) but most of those carries were kneel downs in Charger wins.  Volek will likely add some positive numbers to his career totals in 2008.  Volek has now played in 29 games (10 starts) in his NFL career and he has completed 316 of 529 passes (59.7%) for 3,515 yards with 26 TD passes and 14 interceptions (84.9 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 37 times for 47 yards (1.3 ypc) with 2 TD runs.

The Chargers were dangling #3 QB Charlie Whitehurst on draft day this year but no one bit on the bait.  Whitehurst did not play for the Chargers last season.  He has played in 2 games (0 starts) in his NFL career and he has yet to attempt a pass but he has carried the ball 2 times for 13 yards (6.5 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Casey Bramlet has been brought in to battle Whitehurst for the #3 job.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON:  B

Corey Clark stands at 6′5″, 309 pounds and he runs a 5.1 40, but he’s soft.  Clark doesn’t pack a punch in the running game and he will need to get more aggressive if he wants to have a chance to make it in the NFL.  That being said, he is a strong pass blocker.  He will likely end up on the practice squad for the Chargers as a rookie.

DeJuan Tribble makes a lot of good plays on the football when it’s in the air but he has problems against tall receivers because of his size.  Tribble is 5′8″, 190 pounds and he runs a 4.5 40.  Tribble also has problems in the running game as he sometimes whiffs on tackles.  Tribble played in 46 games (35 starts) at Boston College and he finished with 170 tackles, broke up 37 passes, had 15 interceptions and he forced 3 fumbles.  At best, Tribble can develop into a nickel back for the Chargers.

Marcus Thomas is a very physical football player as he doesn’t mess around running North and South.  Thomas is 6′1″, 213 pounds and he runs a 4.6 40.  Thomas carried the ball 569 times at UTEP for 2,615 yards (4.6 ypc) with 26 TD runs.  He also caught 94 passes for 957 yards (10.2 avg) with 6 TD grabs.  Look for Thomas to put up a good fight for the backup running back job in training camp for the Chargers.