NC State Wolfpack QB Mike Glennon Named 2011 Starter

Twitter   Facebook

The North Carolina State Wolfpack will have a brand new starting quarterback when the 2011 season opens. Though Russell Wilson led Atlantic Coast Conference quarterbacks in passing yards (3,563), passing yards per game (274.1) and touchdown passes (28) in 2010, head coach Tom O'Brien decided he was ready to take his team in a different direction.

At 6-foot-6 and 225 pounds, junior quarterback Mike Glennon will be handed the offensive reigns for the Wolfpack and will be making his very first college football start when their season opens on September 3rd at home against Liberty.

He's as talented as any quarterback that I've had," said O'Brien, "All those guys at Boston College, he's got as much or more talent as all of them."

You might remember O'Brien as the head coach at Boston College from 1997 to 2006 and coached another big time college quarterback. I'm referring to, of course, Atlanta Falcons' quarterback Matt Ryan. So, with O'Brien saying Glennon has as much or more talent than Ryan and others at BC, that's a heck of a compliment.

Glennon was in the same recruiting class as Stanford star quarterback, Andrew Luck, and according to Steve Megargee of Rivals.com was ranked as the number three ranked pro-style quarterback and 59th overall prospect coming out of high school back in 2008.

During the Under Armour All-Star game in 2008, Glennon shined. He looked sharp in his passes and was accurate in just about every pass he threw to his receivers. He's able to check off his first and second options and find the open receiver.

ESPN analysts couldn't stop praising Glennon for his ability on the field and the kind of passes he was throwing. They commented on the zip on his passes, the tight spiral he was throwing, and calling him a "live arm."

He's not a guy who is going to give you a lot of speed out of the backfield and he's not a threat to beat anyone on the defensive side of the ball. But that does not mean Glennon can't get to the outside to deliver a good pass on the run.

A guy who many have compared Glennon to is former North Carolina State and current San Diego Chargers' quarterback, Philip Rivers.

Philip Rivers, Ryan Mathews Key to Success For the San Diego Chargers

The San Diego Chargers continue to feel as if they have the right pieces in place to make a significant run at the Super Bowl. Only problem is, that feeling seems to come around each and every year and the only thing they seem to find is disappointment.

But there's a new feeling in San Diego area coming in to the 2011 NFL Draft. Could this team finally be putting together the kind of team that can, finally, make the type of run they have talked about for so long?

They do have two pieces already in place that could make the biggest difference going forward. One is quarterback Philip Rivers and the other is second year running back Ryan Mathews.

Say what you want about these two players and how both have underachieved at times, but if the Chargers want to do what they have never done in franchise history, win a Super Bowl, it is going to begin and end with the performance of these two players.

Rivers has one of the strongest arms among the NFL quarterbacks and he can shred any defense for 300 yards or more on any given Sunday. Though there are times he makes bad decisions and telegraphs his passes, he can also look like one of the best quarterbacks in the league.

The knock against him, at least from other teams, is how much Rivers likes to talk trash on the field. He gets a tad too fiery and might run his mouth a little more than he should. Outside of that, his teammates love him and the Chargers as a whole love him. It's why they drafted him in the first place as the new face of the franchise.

Ryan Mathews, the second year running back out of Fresno State, was drafted by the Chargers during the 2010 NFL Draft amid hype from the local media and the Chargers themselves.

Though Mathews was the heir apparent to former star running back LaDainian Tomlinson, his slow start and fumble problems led fans to wonder why they drafted him in the first place.

But the team wasn't giving him many chances to really show what he was capable of. There were a few points during the 2010 season where Mathews was able to run through a hole in the opposing defensive line and show the burst of speed everyone talked about.

While the Chargers were giving their former running back more than 20 carries per game, Mathews was seeing just above 10 per game. Not exactly enough to show why the team wanted him to be their next star at the running back position.

When they finally did give him more than the 20 carries usually reserved for someone at Mathews' position, he put up his best game of the season, rushing for 120 yards and three touchdowns against the Denver Broncos.

While the team has seen great regular season performances, the playoffs have been a completely different story.

In 2004, the Chargers were led to a 12-4 season by Brees after he took the majority of snaps during training camp thanks to a Rivers hold out due to a contract dispute. They would capture the AFC West division crown but would face defeat in overtime, 20-17, to the New York Jets in the very first round of the playoffs.

Two years later, in 2006, the Chargers would win 14 games during the regular season but would fall again in the playoffs this time to the New England Patriots after blowing a fourth quarter lead at home.

In each of the following three seasons, 2007 and 2008, the Chargers would again be bounced from the playoffs by the Patriots in the 2007 AFC Championship game and the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2008 AFC Divisional round game.

After three straight seasons of playoff disappointment, the Chargers finally looked like they were going to break through during the 2010 season. After losing three of their first five games, the Chargers went on a blitz and ran off 11 straight victories to close out the regular season with a 13-3 record, captured their fourth straight AFC West title, and a first round bye in the playoffs.

Their divisional round game against a playoff foe they had faced before, the New York Jets, ended the way every other playoff game had ended for San Diego. This time a 17-14 loss to the Jets at Qualcomm Stadium, sending the players and fans home wondering how this continues to happen.

In 2010 the team got off to what most would call a shocking start. Thanks to mental lapses, turnovers, and terrible special teams play, the Chargers would love five of their first seven games and were never able to recover. They finished the season with a respectable 9-7 record but would miss the playoffs for the first time since 2005.

Things just don't seem to be going right for this NFL franchise. Whether it's playoff losses and losing games they had no business losing, they just can't seem to dig their way out of the hole they've been stuck in.

With a new season and new possibilities on the horizon, Philip Rivers and Ryan Mathews will be looked to by the Chargers' offense to move them in a new direction. These are the two players would could make the most impact to a team looking to finally accomplish greatness.

Though Mathews is mostly unproven, especially after an ankle injury kept him from really being able to show what he can do, there's going to be a lot of skepticism around the team from the media as well as the fans.

As for Rivers, everyone knows what's capable of and they know what he brings to the table. His leadership has both brought them to the highest peaks as well as the lowest valleys. He knows that this team needs and he knows that they need from him to be able to be the team to beat in the AFC once again.

The team's success and ability to do something only done once in franchise history lands squarely on the Chargers' quarterback and second year running back. 

Find greatness and there is no limit to the heights this team can soar. 

Follow Todd Kaufmann @T_Kaufmann on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

All the San Diego Chargers Want For Christmas is a Playoff Appearance

Harry How/Getty Images

Norv Turner was walking around Fashion Valley when he caught a bright color of red out of the corner of his eye. It was him! The big man in red!

Turner ran to the line that was already forming to see Santa Claus and pushed his way past the kids and their parents who had already been waiting for quite some time. Apparently his need was more important than theirs.

"SANTA," Turner exclaimed, "I know what I want for Christmas." Santa thought Turner was a little old, not to mention heavy, to be seated on Santa's lap but the jolly old elf figured it seemed important.

"Ok, what is Norv?" Santa replied back.

"I know we haven't been all that good this year. Ok, we've been a lot less than good but I know what I want for Christmas, Santa! Please give us another shot at the playoffs, I promise we can get to the Super Bowl."

Ok so I'm not much for visual effects as far as San Diego Chargers head coach Norv Turner sitting in Santa's lap, but you get the idea. It was my attempt at humor, so sue me.

While the above scenario would never happen, at least I hope it wouldn't, the San Diego Chargers are hoping for a little help this weekend in order to get back into the playoffs and hopefully make another run at the Super Bowl.

It never should have gotten to this point. They weren't a team that anyone thought would need help just to get back into the playoffs at this point in the season. Most thought the Chargers would be the favorite in the AFC. I think most thought that about the Indianapolis Colts as well, but I digress.

We can talk about the lack of solid performances from different players and we can talk about games their special teams play which was anything but 'special.' But the main factor the Chargers' 2010 season has been injuries.

Whether it's been to rookie running back Ryan Mathews, tight end Antonio Gates, guard Louis Vazquez, wide receiver Buster Davis and a host of others, it's been tough for the Chargers to keep the same players together for the entire season.

You can see how much of a toll it's taken on them.

Not that the 2010 San Diego Chargers can blame all of their problems on injuries, or the holdout of wide receiver Vincent Jackson, but it's something that they and their fans can look back on as something that kept this team from doing what they should have been capable of doing.

As it stands right now, the Chargers will need to win their final two games and do so without tight end Antonio Gates to be able to have even a shot at winning the AFC West title. Though it's not impossible, they will need losses from both Kansas City and Oakland to make that a reality.

This is not where this team wanted to be at this juncture. If you were to ask them, they would more than likely tell you that they would rather have a comfortable lead in the division and be able to rest some of their starters for the stretch run of the playoffs.

Instead they will have to rely on quarterback Philip Rivers, running backs Ryan Mathews and Mike Tolbert, wide receivers Vincent Jackson and Seyi Ajirotutu as well as the rest of their team to be able to do what they can do on the field and hope the rest works itself out.

Santa isn't going to leave them a gift-wrapped trip to the playoffs under their Christmas tree. They had their chance to keep their destiny in their own hands.

Now they'll have to leave it in someone else's hands and hope that it works out exactly the way they want it to.

It hasn't been a season to remember, but it's not over yet. Win, and let the rest take care of itself.

San Diego Chargers: Is Philip Rivers Getting Too Much Credit For Charger Wins?

 

Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

Philip Rivers is one of the more talented quarterbacks in the NFL. I'm not here to dispute that. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to give him just as much blame as credit.

I should tell you I was never sold on Philip Rivers right from the moment the team acquired him as a rookie out of North Carolina State. I knew his talent coming out of college but that talent does not always carry over to the NFL.

He's had some great years with San Diego and let then to some big years. But as many games as he might have won for the Chargers, he's also been the one to blame for making stupid decisions and losing games they never should have lost.

We won't go back to the past as I don't want to talk about previous years, just this year.

As I was scouring the internet this morning checking up on the NFL games from yesterday, wanting to see how certain teams did, I came across this article from Yahoo Sports' Michael Silver talking about Rivers' heavy burden he's apparently carrying around this year.

At one point very early on in the article Silver says, "If Rivers doesn’t bring his “A” game, the 2010 Chargers usually fail."

The first time I saw that line, I wondered if Silver had really looked into this season and the numbers behind some of the games the Chargers had both won and lost. Then I realized, when you use the word 'usually' it will normally give you some wiggle room.

Good choice of words.

When I went back to do my own research earlier in the year I started noticing a pattern which has continued through most of this season. That pattern was the different between the pass attempts by Rivers and the rushing attempts by the Charger running backs.

What emerged was a pattern of games won and games lost based on Rivers trying to do it all or Rivers letting his teammates help out.

Through 13 games, the Chargers hold a 7-6 record going into their game this weekend against the San Francisco 49ers, needing yet another win to keep themselves in playoff contention.

The Chargers are 6-1 in games they run the ball more times than Rivers has pass attempts. When Rivers passes more than the Chargers use their running game, they're 1-6. In games Rivers throws for more than 300 yards (5), the Chargers are 2-3, and in games he throws for more than 400 yards (2) they're 0-2.
As good as Rivers can be any given week, it hasn't always translated to wins.

The Charger fans, most of them anyway, believe he's the man that can take them to the Super Bowl. Though, I think that loyalty is a bit mis-placed seeing as he's had a few shots at getting there and has only gotten out of the first round of the playoffs once.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not hating on Rivers at all. As I said before, he's a talented quarterback with a lot of greatness potential. While I'm not going to assign all of the blame for where this team is at this point in the season, I think it's a little unfair for Michael Silver to essentially say Rivers is carrying this team which just isn't the case.

Also, I'm not sure calling Rivers' performance against Oakland his "worst of the season" seeing as he threw 24 incomplete passes and was picked twice in a loss to the Seattle Seahawks in week three.

There could be a lot of blame on the coaching staff for calling the wrong plays or the special teams which let the Chargers down more times than once and who might have single handedly handed the Seahawks their victory.

There's no question this team has underachieved to this point and there's also no question that injuries have taken their toll on the Chargers. But that doesn't mean you can give all the credit to one guy and make it seem like Rivers is carrying the entire team, referring to them as "backpack full of boulders."

Over the last six weeks, the team is 5-1 and has gone from a potential "outside looking in" shocker to possibly sneaking their way into the playoffs thanks to a weak AFC West division currently led by the 8-5 Kansas City Chiefs who just got handed a 31-0 beat down by Chargers this past Sunday.

With three weeks left in the season and one more home game to play, Philip Rivers needs to make a decision whether he's going to believe the hype put on his shoulders or whether he's going to let the rest of his guys do what they do best.

The running game works and they've proven it. Though they've had their bumps in the road, their quarterback has had just as many.

He can't do it all himself, he's shown that more than once this season. If he allows the game to come to him and becomes the leader the Charger fans know he can be, than maybe this team has a chance for that playoff spot.

I'm not a hater of Philip Rivers, just a healthy skeptic.