A Tip Of The Hat: The Chargers Youth Movement of 2013

DJ Fluker:

DJ Fluker was our first round pick in this draft, and he played like one. He brought a nasty attitude to the offensive line this season, along with that ever-so-coveted Crimson Tide Pedigree. Right from the start, you could tell he was going to be a force to reckon with. He struggled a little in his first couple of games, but what rookie doesn’t? I think sometime around the Raider game, where he body-slammed linebacker Sio Moore, we all realized that he was “as advertised”. Fluker sustained some ankle injuries, but played through them. He suffered a concussion, but came back quickly. We lost both of our left tackles, but he stepped in and held down the fort admirably. He gets beaten by speed rushers every now & then, but not as much as anybody thought he would, coming out of the draft. What he lacks in pass rush, he makes up for in the run game. He is an absolute bully, and pushes his opponents around, as if they were children in a schoolyard. Right tackles normally don’t get a whole lot of attention in this league, but Fluker is already striking fear into other team’s players (just ask Sio Moore), and turning the heads of the experts. When Fluker was selected at 11, a lot of people (including myself) looked at the sky and asked “WHY?!!!!”. Well… That’s why.