Philip Rivers is in a make-or-break year. There is no hiding the urgency facing the San Diego Chargers quarterback in 2013. The team made several offseason moves to surround Rivers with talent on both ends of the ball and now it is his turn to answer. One of those offseason signing, Danny Woodhead, will be key to the quarterback's success in the upcoming year.
Woodhead has been in the NFL for five seasons now, seeing most of his playing time coming with the New England Patriots. While he may have only gotten nine starts so far in his career, he emerged as a dual threat player, rushing for 1,263 yards while racking up 1,069 receiving yards. When he became available on the free agent market, it did not take long for the Chargers to swoop him up.
"It feels good to be out here playing football, a game that I love," Woodhead said. "I love getting out there and competing, and I'm really happy to be a Charger. I want to contribute and show my teammates that I can be an asset. That is part of what drives me. I think I've been doing a good job so far but we'll see.
So far in training camp, Woodhead is proving to be every bit the asset that the team hoped to be getting. The Chargers' defense is learning the hard way that Woodhead's size and speed make him very difficult to tackle. The running back uses his 5-foot-9 frame as an advantage, hiding behind offensive line players before making his moves.
"I can't wait to see him in games," said safety Eric Weddle. "He's so hard to deal with in the running game, because you can't see him. He just gets swallowed up, then bounces out or sneaks through a hole. He's short, but very compact and really, really powerful. He's the kind of back we haven't had here in quite a while. Guys like that, who create mismatches, will really kill you."
With Ronnie Brown back for another season, the Chargers will likely rotate several running backs throughout the season. Head coach Mike McCoy would like to be able to finally rely on Ryan Mathews to be the running back they thought they were drafting, but Woodhead will likely get the bulk of the carries.
Early reports in practice are that Rivers has found his new favorite target in Woodhead. With is ability to be a key third-down running back, plus his pass-catching skills, Rivers has Woodhead in his vision on every play.
