The San Diego Chargers have the chance to be much improved in 2013 after firing head coach Norv Turner and general manager AJ Smith and with the additions of Max Starks and D.J. Fluker on the offensive line, Philip Rivers is looking to put up big numbers for new coach Mike McCoy.
Rivers had solid stats in 2012, but a porous offensive line didn't give him enough time to set up for throws and that made him turnover the ball more, making the Chargers address the line in the offseason. Starks was brought in to play left tackle after getting rid of Jared Gaither and while he will compete with King Dunlap, chances are Starks will be starting after coming over from the Steelers. The team also has been looking at former Broncos DL Justin Bannan as a possible option on the defensive line, as he once worked with McCoy in Denver.
Mike McCoy and new general manager Tom Telesco have focused on the offensive line during the offseason and they did that in the draft as well, taking DJ Fluker with the team's first round pick out of Alabama. Starks has been a consistent starter during his time in Pittsburgh and Fluker has been considered one of the best prospects in the draft. Starks and Fluker could greatly help the play of Philip Rivers, who was constantly on the run last season and was sacked a ton of times for the Chargers under Norv Turner. Rivers ended up with solid number of 3,606 yards passing and 26 touchdowns, but he also had 15 touchdowns and 15 fumbles and part of that was due to the inconsistent play of the offensive line.
Starks was very successful while blocking for Ben Roethlisberger and he played every snap for the team last season, but coach Mike Tomlin wanted to get younger on the line, making him expendable. The Chargers greatly needed to upgrade the line after ranking 24th in passing yards per game and 27th in rushing yards per game and the additions of Starks and Fluker will drastically give the team a better duo than last year.
