Best Chargers by Uniform Number

[joebarnin]

This is my attempt to list the best Charger players by uniform number. The website pro-football-reference.com makes it easy to list all of the players who have worn a specific jersey number, for each team. This website also has the concept of Approximate Value (AV), which is a way to assign a numeric value to each player's season. While AV isn't perfect, it's a reasonable tool. In a given season a player's AV might range from 0 (benchwarmer) to 20 (MVP candidate). It provides ratings for all positions, including those that don't generate stats (e.g., offensive linemen). So rather than use my subjective opinion, I used the career AV as calculated by the website.

For each uniform number, I identified the Charger with the highest career AV. Note that the total AV only reflects the years that he played for the Chargers, wearing that number. So for example, the greatest #19 in Charger history is Lance Alworth, not Johnny Unitas, who wore the number for one forgettable season at the end of his career.

Without further ado, here is the list. One thing I noticed - there are a lot of players from the 60s and 70s. I suspect this is because, before free agency, players tended to stay with teams longer. That's my guess at least.

Anyway, have fun.

Number	Player	Years	Total AV	Others
0	Daiyan Henley	2023-2023	1
1	Ty Long	2019-2021	7
2	Darren Bennett	1995-2003	26
3	John Carney	1990-2000	36
4	Jim Harbaugh	1999-2000	12
5	Mike Scifres	2003-2015	30
6	Rolf Benirschke	1977-1986	29
7	Doug Flutie	2001-2004	18
8	Kyle Van Noy	2022-2022	7
9	Drew Brees	2001-2005	49
10	Justin Herbert	2020-2023	56
11	Eddie Royal	2012-2014	14
12	Stan Humphries	1992-1997	55
13	Keenan Allen	2013-2023	91
14	Dan Fouts	1973-1987	163
15	Jack Kemp	1960-1962	28
16	Tyrell Williams	2015-2018	22
17	Philip Rivers	2004-2019	205
18	Charlie Joiner	1976-1986	100
19	Lance Alworth	1963-1970	108
20	Natrone Means	1993-1999	31
21	LaDainian Tomlinson	2001-2009	145	John Hadl,115
22	Gill Byrd	1983-1992	71
23	Quentin Jammer	2002-2012	65	Paul Lowe,55
24	Bob Howard	1967-1974	40	Ryan Mathews,40
25	Vencie Glenn	1986-1990	32
26	Casey Hayward	2016-2020	40
27	Gary Garrison	1966-1976	85
28	Melvin Gordon	2015-2018	36
29	Dennis Partee	1968-1975	32
30	Austin Ekeler	2019-2023	47
31	Antonio Cromartie	2007-2009	29
32	Eric Weddle	2007-2015	79
33	Kenny Graham	1964-1969	54	Ronnie Harmon,53
34	Rickey Young	1975-1977	26
35	Marion Butts	1989-1993	35
36	Dick Harris	1960-1965	54
37	Rodney Harrison	1994-2002	50
38	Jacque MacKinnon	1962-1969	28
39	George Blair	1961-1964	24
40	Joe Beauchamp	1966-1975	42
41	Terrell Fletcher	1995-2002	25
42	Mike Fuller	1975-1980	38
43	Darren Sproles	2005-2010	30
44	Martin Bayless	1987-1991	28
45	Speedy Duncan	1964-1970	46
46	Chuck Muncie	1980-1984	44
47	Bud Whitehead	1961-1968	33
48	Terrence Kiel	2003-2006	18
49	Drue Tranquill	2019-2022	14
50	Chuck Allen	1961-1969	56
51	Woodrow Lowe	1976-1986	73
52	Don Rogers	1960-1964	36
53	Courtney Hall	1989-1996	57
54	Melvin Ingram	2012-2020	60
55	Junior Seau	1990-2002	168
56	Shawne Merriman	2005-2010	40
57	Linden King	1979-1985	32
58	Lewis Bush	1993-1999	33
59	Donnie Edwards	2002-2006	49
60	Dennis McKnight	1982-1988	42
61	Nick Hardwick	2004-2014	82
62	Don Macek	1976-1989	83
63	Doug Wilkerson	1971-1984	114
64	Pat Shea	1962-1965	18
65	Sam Gruneisen	1962-1972	49
66	Billy Shields	1975-1983	69	Jeromey Clary,53
67	Ed White	1978-1985	71
68	Kris Dielman	2003-2011	76
69	Ira Gordon	1970-1975	23
70	Russ Washington	1970-1982	105
71	Fred Dean	1975-1981	49
72	Harry Swayne	1991-1996	38
73	Marcus McNeill	2006-2011	53
74	Ron Mix	1960-1969	105
75	Ernie Wright	1960-1967	54
76	Jamal Williams	1998-2009	77
77	Ernie Ladd	1961-1965	50
78	Walt Sweeney	1963-1973	92
79	Gary Johnson	1976-1984	77
80	Kellen Winslow	1979-1987	72	Malcom Floyd,54
81	Tony Martin	1994-1997	35	Mike Williams,34
82	Steve DeLong	1967-1971	32
83	Vincent Jackson	2005-2011	57	Anthony Miller,57
84	Paul Maguire	1960-1963	31
85	Antonio Gates	2003-2018	127
86	Earl Faison	1961-1966	63
87	Lionel Aldridge	1972-1973	10
88	Don Norton	1960-1966	41
89	Wes Chandler	1981-1987	67
90	Marco Coleman	1996-1998	23
91	Leslie O'Neal	1986-1995	87
92	Burt Grossman	1989-1993	36
93	Luis Castillo	2005-2011	37
94	Corey Liuget	2011-2018	48
95	Shaun Phillips	2004-2012	57
96	Norman Hand	1997-1999	18
97	John Parrella	1994-2001	45	Joey Bosa,35
98	Shawn Lee	1992-1997	34
99	Lee Williams	1984-1990	54

[21&500]

Who the hell is this Kenny Graham over my guy Ronnie Harmon?!?!

[21&500]

Parella over Bosa... ya okay. Some Bosa hater has a sense of humor. That exraider turd DT has nothing on Joey.
"good DT" doesn't beat an elite edge.

[joebarnin]

Who the hell is this Kenny Graham over my guy Ronnie Harmon?!?!

Both played six seasons as a Charger. Both were excellent players. Their AVs are different by a point - no difference really. Just because Graham played before you were watching, doesn't mean he wasn't good.

[joebarnin]

Parella over Bosa... ya okay. Some Bosa hater has a sense of humor. That exraider turd DT has nothing on Joey.
"good DT" doesn't beat an elite edge.

Bosa changed his number - he was 99 for the first 3 seasons, then switched to 97. He'd be ahead of Parrella (and Lee Williams #99) if he had stuck to the same number his whole career.

[21&500]

Both played six seasons as a Charger. Both were excellent players. Their AVs are different by a point - no difference really. Just because Graham played before you were watching, doesn't mean he wasn't good.

Ya more just reactive commentary, I really liked Ronnie and his role at the time. Fan-fav.
Never heard of Kenny Graham but looking him up now.

[northerner]

Ya more just reactive commentary, I really liked Ronnie and his role at the time. Fan-fav.
Never heard of Kenny Graham but looking him up now.

yep, totally. that was 2nd place name that jumped out to me as me as well.

[Ghost of Quacksaw]

Shocking to see how many marginal players were the best the Chargers ever had, wearing that particular number.

Terrence Kiel? Martin Bayless? Tyrell Williams? Ty Long? Yikes!

[joebarnin]

Ya more just reactive commentary, I really liked Ronnie and his role at the time. Fan-fav.
Never heard of Kenny Graham but looking him up now.

I loved Harmon too. Part of the great Ross-era team.

[21&500]

I loved Harmon too. Part of the great Ross-era team.

He and Natrone overlapped from 93-95 as SDC

[Craig440]

I was surprised to see #52 Don Rodgers on there. Hès a friend of mine. I did a lot of pool work for him and his wife Dee. We used to laugh that he would hike the ball and lay down and roll. He became a tax guy later in life. I haven't seen him in several years.

Brought back memories.

[Bolt4Knob]

This is my attempt to list the best Charger players by uniform number. The website pro-football-reference.com makes it easy to list all of the players who have worn a specific jersey number, for each team. This website also has the concept of Approximate Value (AV), which is a way to assign a numeric value to each player's season. While AV isn't perfect, it's a reasonable tool. In a given season a player's AV might range from 0 (benchwarmer) to 20 (MVP candidate). It provides ratings for all positions, including those that don't generate stats (e.g., offensive linemen). So rather than use my subjective opinion, I used the career AV as calculated by the website.

For each uniform number, I identified the Charger with the highest career AV. Note that the total AV only reflects the years that he played for the Chargers, wearing that number. So for example, the greatest #19 in Charger history is Lance Alworth, not Johnny Unitas, who wore the number for one forgettable season at the end of his career.

Without further ado, here is the list. One thing I noticed - there are a lot of players from the 60s and 70s. I suspect this is because, before free agency, players tended to stay with teams longer. That's my guess at least.

Anyway, have fun.

Number	Player	Years	Total AV	Others
0	Daiyan Henley	2023-2023	1
1	Ty Long	2019-2021	7
2	Darren Bennett	1995-2003	26
3	John Carney	1990-2000	36
4	Jim Harbaugh	1999-2000	12
5	Mike Scifres	2003-2015	30
6	Rolf Benirschke	1977-1986	29
7	Doug Flutie	2001-2004	18
8	Kyle Van Noy	2022-2022	7
9	Drew Brees	2001-2005	49
10	Justin Herbert	2020-2023	56
11	Eddie Royal	2012-2014	14
12	Stan Humphries	1992-1997	55
13	Keenan Allen	2013-2023	91
14	Dan Fouts	1973-1987	163
15	Jack Kemp	1960-1962	28
16	Tyrell Williams	2015-2018	22
17	Philip Rivers	2004-2019	205
18	Charlie Joiner	1976-1986	100
19	Lance Alworth	1963-1970	108
20	Natrone Means	1993-1999	31
21	LaDainian Tomlinson	2001-2009	145	John Hadl,115
22	Gill Byrd	1983-1992	71
23	Quentin Jammer	2002-2012	65	Paul Lowe,55
24	Bob Howard	1967-1974	40	Ryan Mathews,40
25	Vencie Glenn	1986-1990	32
26	Casey Hayward	2016-2020	40
27	Gary Garrison	1966-1976	85
28	Melvin Gordon	2015-2018	36
29	Dennis Partee	1968-1975	32
30	Austin Ekeler	2019-2023	47
31	Antonio Cromartie	2007-2009	29
32	Eric Weddle	2007-2015	79
33	Kenny Graham	1964-1969	54	Ronnie Harmon,53
34	Rickey Young	1975-1977	26
35	Marion Butts	1989-1993	35
36	Dick Harris	1960-1965	54
37	Rodney Harrison	1994-2002	50
38	Jacque MacKinnon	1962-1969	28
39	George Blair	1961-1964	24
40	Joe Beauchamp	1966-1975	42
41	Terrell Fletcher	1995-2002	25
42	Mike Fuller	1975-1980	38
43	Darren Sproles	2005-2010	30
44	Martin Bayless	1987-1991	28
45	Speedy Duncan	1964-1970	46
46	Chuck Muncie	1980-1984	44
47	Bud Whitehead	1961-1968	33
48	Terrence Kiel	2003-2006	18
49	Drue Tranquill	2019-2022	14
50	Chuck Allen	1961-1969	56
51	Woodrow Lowe	1976-1986	73
52	Don Rogers	1960-1964	36
53	Courtney Hall	1989-1996	57
54	Melvin Ingram	2012-2020	60
55	Junior Seau	1990-2002	168
56	Shawne Merriman	2005-2010	40
57	Linden King	1979-1985	32
58	Lewis Bush	1993-1999	33
59	Donnie Edwards	2002-2006	49
60	Dennis McKnight	1982-1988	42
61	Nick Hardwick	2004-2014	82
62	Don Macek	1976-1989	83
63	Doug Wilkerson	1971-1984	114
64	Pat Shea	1962-1965	18
65	Sam Gruneisen	1962-1972	49
66	Billy Shields	1975-1983	69	Jeromey Clary,53
67	Ed White	1978-1985	71
68	Kris Dielman	2003-2011	76
69	Ira Gordon	1970-1975	23
70	Russ Washington	1970-1982	105
71	Fred Dean	1975-1981	49
72	Harry Swayne	1991-1996	38
73	Marcus McNeill	2006-2011	53
74	Ron Mix	1960-1969	105
75	Ernie Wright	1960-1967	54
76	Jamal Williams	1998-2009	77
77	Ernie Ladd	1961-1965	50
78	Walt Sweeney	1963-1973	92
79	Gary Johnson	1976-1984	77
80	Kellen Winslow	1979-1987	72	Malcom Floyd,54
81	Tony Martin	1994-1997	35	Mike Williams,34
82	Steve DeLong	1967-1971	32
83	Vincent Jackson	2005-2011	57	Anthony Miller,57
84	Paul Maguire	1960-1963	31
85	Antonio Gates	2003-2018	127
86	Earl Faison	1961-1966	63
87	Lionel Aldridge	1972-1973	10
88	Don Norton	1960-1966	41
89	Wes Chandler	1981-1987	67
90	Marco Coleman	1996-1998	23
91	Leslie O'Neal	1986-1995	87
92	Burt Grossman	1989-1993	36
93	Luis Castillo	2005-2011	37
94	Corey Liuget	2011-2018	48
95	Shaun Phillips	2004-2012	57
96	Norman Hand	1997-1999	18
97	John Parrella	1994-2001	45	Joey Bosa,35
98	Shawn Lee	1992-1997	34
99	Lee Williams	1984-1990	54

John Jefferson - -number 83 over both VJ and Miller.