The Los Angeles Chargers are still searching for their first Super Bowl win in franchise history but that doesn't mean that they haven't fielded some great teams filled with notable talent throughout their 61 seasons of existence.
A lot of that talent has come through the draft and a lot of the team's star players have been drafted fairly early. However, at the same time, the team has also been able to scavenge some fantastic talent later in the draft that has slipped through the cracks. Here are the Chargers' top NFL Draft steals.
5. Kenny Graham
With the 104th pick of the 1964 AFL Draft, the San Diego Chargers selected Washington State safety Kenny Graham. As a 13th-round pick, Graham wasn't expected to be a major contributor to the Chargers defense, at least not right away.
Instead, Graham would intercept four passes as a rookie and then 10 in the next two seasons combined. Graham would play only six seasons in San Diego but made his time count, with 28 interceptions and four Pro Bowl nominations.
4. Ernie Ladd
At 6-foot-9 and 290 pounds, Ernie Ladd is one of the most physically imposing players in NFL history. Although Ladd lasted only until the fourth round of the 1961 NFL draft, the big defensive tackle wouldn't be selected by the Chargers until round 15 (119 overall) in the AFL draft.
Stats are hard to find for Ladd due to the era in which he played in but his impact is clear. Ladd anchored the San Diego defense in his five years with the team, being named a First-Team All-Pro three times before later enjoying a successful professional wrestling career.
3. Keenan Allen
By far the most recent pick on this list, the Chargers hit a home run when they drafted Cal wideout Keenan Allen 76th overall in the 2013 draft. Injury concerns as a senior in college led to Allen's draft-day fall and the 6-foot-2 star has admittedly struggled a bit with injuries in his pro career. However, when he's on the field, Allen is elite.
Allen has notched three-straight 1,000-yard seasons for the Chargers while also being named to the Pro Bowl all three years. The former third-round pick recently turned 28 years old and still has some great football ahead of him.
2. Rodney Harrison
Coming out of Western Illinois University, Rodney Harrison hadn't gotten the attention of many other top defensive back prospects. That ended up working in the Chargers' favor as they were able to snag a great player with the 145th pick in the fifth round of the draft, in 1994.
Harrison only made two Pro Bowls in nine years with San Diego but he was consistently a high-impact player that patrolled the defensive backfield for nearly a decade. Harrison was able to notch over 100 tackles in more than half of his seasons as a Charger while also recording 26 interceptions and 21.5 sacks.
1. Dan Fouts
One of the best players in franchise history, Fouts wasn't exactly a heralded prospect coming out of Oregon. So, when the Chargers drafted him in the third round with the 64th overall pick, did they expect him to set NFL season passing yardage records in three consecutive seasons? No, probably not.
Fouts led the NFL in passing yards for four-straight seasons from 1979-1982 and ended his career with six Pro Bowl nods, over 43,000 passing yards and 267 total touchdowns.
Fouts was enshrined in the Hall of Fame in 2003 and considering he's the only player in the 1973 draft class to make the Hall of Fame as a non-first-round pick, that's doubly impressive.
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