29-year old QB Philip Rivers turned in his most amazing year of his NFL career in 2010.  He was putting up huge numbers without Antonio Gates, Vincent Jackson and Malcolm Floyd quite a bit due to injuries and holdouts.  Rivers started all 16 games for the Chargers last season and he completed 357 of 541 passes (66%) for 4,710 yards with 30 TD passes and 13 INTs (101.8 QB Rating).  Rivers also carried the ball 29 times for 52 yards (1.8 ypc) last season.  Rivers has now played in 84 games in his NFL career and he has completed 1,564 of 2,455 passes (63.7%) for 19,661 yards with 136 TD passes and 58 INTs (97.2 QB Rating).  Rivers has also carried the ball 168 times for 262 yards (1.6 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  He seems to be getting better every season and that has to be downright scary for the rest of the league.

34-year old Billy Volek played in 3 games for the Chargers last season and he completed 1 of 1 passes (100%) for 8 yards with 0 TD passes and 0 INTs (100.0 QB Rating).  Volek also carried the ball 6 times for -5 yards (-0.8 ypc) last season.  Volek has now played in 37 games in his NFL career and he has completed 337 of 561 passes (60.1%) for 3,754 yards with 27 TD passes and 15 INTs (84.9 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 52 times for 33 yards (0.6 ypc) with 2 TD runs so far in his career.

VERDICT:  I look for Philip Rivers to continue being a dominating QB in 2011 for the Chargers.  But, I have a feeling that they will need to look for a new backup as Billy Volek will be looking to go somewhere where he can compete for a starting job.

27-year old WR Vincent Jackson had a long holdout this year which was a huge reason the Chargers didn’t make the playoffs.  Are the Chargers going to ante’ up for Jackson in the off-season?  I think they should but I have a feeling they will try to play hardball again with him.  Jackson has played in 4 games for the Chargers this season and he has caught 11 passes for 195 yards (17.7 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  He has also carried the ball 1 time for 14 yards so far this year.  Jackson has now played in 75 games in his first six years with the Chargers and he has caught 209 passes for 3,595 yards (17.2 avg) with 28 TD grabs.  He has also carried the ball 11 times for 110 yards (10.0 ypc) so far in his NFL career.  Philip Rivers really likes throwing the ball to Vincent Jackson and that should figure into the Chargers’ plans going forward.

27-year old RB Darren Sproles does whatever the Chargers ask him to do…..and he does it all well.  Sproles has played in 13 games so far this year for the Chargers in which he has carried the ball 41 times for 215 yards (5.2 ypc) and he has caught 44 passes for 409 yards (9.3 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Sproles also excels on special teams.  He has returned 41 kickoffs for 1,014 yards (24.7 avg) and he has also returned 24 punts for 166 yards (6.9 avg) so far this year.  Sproles has now touched the football 150 times for the Chargers  so far this year and he has 1,804 total yards (12.0 yards per touch) with 2 TDs.  He is averaging 138.8 all-purpose yards so far this year for the Chargers.  Sproles is a very valuable player for the Chargers as he can do it all.

28-year old QB Philip Rivers is literally turning into the west coast version of  Tom Brady (minus the Super Bowl Rings).  Rivers has played in 12 games for the Chargers so far this year and he has completed 272 of 415 passes (65.5%) for 3,642 yards with 24 TD passes and 10 INTs (102.5 QB Rating).  Rivers has also carried the ball  25 times for 44 yards (1.8 ypc) so far this year.  If Rivers finishes this year strongly it could be his third season in a row with a QB Rating over 100!  He had a QB Rating of 105.5 in 2008 and 104.4 in 2009!  The amazing thing about Rivers’ play this year is all of the injuries to his WRs, TEs and RBs.  It doesn’t seem to matter who Rivers is throwing the ball to, he continues to make plays.

23-year old undrafted rookie WR Seyi Ajirotutu and 31-year old TE Randy McMichael stepped into the roles of Malcolm Floyd & Antonio Gates last week and they were outstanding.  Ajirotutu has played in 3 games for the Chargers so far this year and he has caught 9 passes for 185 yards (20.6 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  He will have a role going forward for the Chargers even when they start to get their wounded WRs back.  Randy McMichael has played in 9 games this year for the Chargers and he has caught 7 passes for 84 yards with 2 TD grabs (both last week).

28-year old QB Philip Rivers just seems to keep getting better for the San Diego Chargers.  He has played in 9 games so far this year and he has completed 215 of 329 passes (65.4%) for 2,944 yards with 19 TD passes and 8 INTs (102.9 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 17 times for 26 yards (1.5 ypc) so far this year.  It doesn’t seem to matter who goes out for passes for Rivers as he was without Antonio Gates, Vincent Jackson, Malcolm Floyd and Legedu Naanee and he still played a great game.  Rivers has now played in 77 games in his 7 years with the Chargers and he has completed 1,422 of 2,243 (63.4%) for 17,895 yards with 125 TD passes and 53 INTs (96.9 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 156 times for 236 yards (1.5 ypc) with 2 TD runs in his career.  Rivers seems to have no ceiling as he just seems to keep getting better.

24-year old “fullback” Mike Tolbert has been outstanding for the Chargers this year.  He has played in all six games for the Chargers this year and he has carried the ball 66 times for 295 yards (4.5 ypc) with 5 TD runs.  Tolbert has also caught 8 passes for 57 yards (7.1 avg) so far this year.  At 5’9″, 243 pounds Tolbert reminds me exactly of Michael Turner.  Hopefully the Chargers will be smart and keep Tolbert involved in the offense even with Ryan Mathews back in action.

27-year old Kevin Burnett and 29-year old Shaun Phillips have both been playing excellent football so far this year for the Chargers.  Burnett has played in all six games for the Chargers so far this year and he has 32 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 5 sacks, 4 passes defensed, 1 interception, 2 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery.  Shaun Phillips has played in all six games for the Chargers so far this year and he has 22 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 6 sacks, 5 passes defensed and 1 interception (he returned it 31-yards for a TD).  Phillips & Burnett are a big part of the reason why the Chargers’ D is playing so well.  The Chargers are only giving up 255.2 yards of offense per game so far this year.

The Chargers are averaging 461.3 yards of total offense so far this season.  345.0 of those yards have come through the air which is a testament to how well Philip Rivers has played.  Gone from last year have been recently signed OT Marcus McNeil and WR Vincent Jackson (who is still holding out) but that hasn’t stopped Rivers this year.  In his first three games this year, Rivers has completed 73 of 121 passes (60.3%) for 1,087 yards with 7 TD passes and 4 INTs (95.3 Rating).  Rivers has also carried the ball 4 times for 7 yards (1.8 ypc) so far this year.  Rivers is doing his part now it’s time for the rest of the team to pick up their play and follow the leader.

24-year old cornerback Antoine Cason is really stepping up his game for the Chargers so far this year.  Cason has 11 tackles, a forced fumble, 5 passes defensed and 2 interceptions (23 return yards) in his first two games of the year.  Cason is taking over Antonio Cromartie’s old role of as the lockdown corner.  In his first two years with the Chargers, Cason played in 32 games in which he had 115 tackles, 10 passes defensed, 1 forced fumble and 4 interceptions (one returned for a TD).  He looks ready to take the next step and be one of the better corners in the NFL.