Since general manager Tom Telesco took over in 2013, he’s heard the same question over and over in the offseason. That question being if the Chargers are looking into drafting Philip Rivers’ successor.
For the most part, he’s given the same answer, and that is that they are looking at all possible options. Telesco has yet to draft a quarterback in the first two days of the draft since taking over, but that could very well change this time, given the fact that the Philip Rivers era could be coming to an end.
Like any other year, Telesco is taking a hard look at the quarterback position in free agency and the NFL draft. That evaluation process started this past week at the Reese’s Senior Bowl, which was held in Mobile, AL.
Telesco, who came on Chris Hayre’s Chargers Weekly podcast, talked about the importance of evaluating the quarterbacks at the annual all-star game.
“I mean, it’s always important,” Telesco said of the quarterbacks participating at the Senior Bowl. “I mean, really, it’s more important what they did at their college for three or four years. But yeah, the all-star game is great, and it’s great to see guys want to come and compete and play no matter where you think you may be drafted to come compete.”
This year’s Senior Bowl featured three signal-callers that the Bolts likely have under a microscope: former Oregon’s Justin Herbert, Utah State’s Jordan Love and Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts.
All quarterbacks have their own unique skillsets. But it’s been Herbert and Love who have garnered the majority of the attention because both players are projected to go in the first-round, and they each would bring some enticing traits to Los Angeles.
In his end-of-season press conference, Telesco did say that drafting a quarterback is not off the table even if they re-sign Rivers.
“The quarterback position, we’ve scouted it every year. It’s not like we go into a year and say, ‘You know what? We’re all good at that position. Let’s not even worry about watching practice. We’ll have somebody else worry about that.’ That’s not how that works. But I love seeing players that are ‘projected to go high’ and still want to come play in this game. That’s great to see,” Telesco said.
But with Rivers being a free agent and his age continuing to get up there, it does make the possibility of them selecting one in the early rounds more likely.