I will be shocked if they start Rivers

[Tomlinson21]

I will be shocked if they start Rivers this early. I think a year under either Doug or Drew (I still feel one of these guys is trade bait) - Rivers will be great. Right now I think he needs to grap a thinking cap and clip board and learn from the sidelines. I think Flutie is a great teacher and I think Rivers will learn alot from him.

Lets breed this kid right...don't throw him out with the wolves this early!

[WVBOLTFAN]

It would not surprise me at all!! Marty is known for making stupid moves!! The day they went after Rivers is the day they gave up on Brees and it probably really doesn't matter how good Brees plays they want Rivers to play.

[BlueandGold]

I wouldn't be shocked.

#1, Philip has been a starting QB his entire football life. 51 games in a row is no accident; and neither is being the MVP of every bowl game he's ever played in. It shows consistency, guts, and the ability to succeed under pressure. If there was ever a rookie quarterback who I felt was ready to start his first game in the bigs, it would be Philip Rivers.

#2, Marty loves the kid. He saw him run the Charger system in the Senior Bowl, and watched him run up another MVP doing it. They spent a high draft pick on him, and as a result, paid him lots of money.

#3, Philip seems to have gotten his jitters under control in the Niner game with a very solid second half. He was absolutely on-target and looked for the outlet when he was flushed out of the pocket instead of trying to run it himself. The TD pass to Dyson was into the smallest of windows. Granted, most of his completions were short, high-percentage passes, but they WORKED. They got first downs, they were safe, and they put the Chargers in flexible situations in second and third downs- exactly what Marty likes.

All that being said, though, I expect Drew to start. I do think that the best way to improve a guy like Philip Rivers is, in fact, to throw him into the fire. Philip has shown that he can run the system; now he just needs to get acclimated to the speed of the game, and the best way to do that is in the heat of battle against a real opponent. Sooner or later, he has to anyway, so why not start early?

[radwang]

If in fact Rivers can turn out to be what people are saying he will (which is still alot of speculation), then I would say cutting Flutie and making him a coach would be a must. Why? Because Flutie is notorious for being a good guy but the fact is he is old and still wants to play. We love the guys because of his fire and knowledge of the game, but cutting him would give both Brees and Rivers a fair shot at starting. Brees has been a class act for the organization despite the controversy with Flutie over the last years. If we want both Brees and Rivers to duel it out then Flutie has got to go. For the organization I believe keeping Brees and starting him for most of this year would be the wisest move and if Brees can't hack 3/4 of the season then we get rid of him altogether and start Rivers.

[Hoss]

I wouldn't be surpised either considering how few practices Rivers had and how he lead the team. I, as most all of you have HIGH esteem for Mr Brees and if things get hot for Rivers, a cool Brees may be what the doctor ordered ! Flutie as a coach ? I like it !

[WVBOLTFAN]

I just saw where Brees practiced with the first team offense yesterday so that probably indicates he will be named the starter today.