If you can’t beat them https://www.chargersfanstore.com , join them."Daily LinksSan Diego Chargers NewsSan Diego Chargers OffseasonSan Diego Chargers HistorySan Diego Chargers HumorBFTB EditorialsHow the Rams Super Bowl helps the ChargersNew,46commentsIf you can’t beat them, join them.PSTShareTweetShareShareHow the Rams Super Bowl helps the ChargersSame but DifferentFlashback to the Spring of 2017, and the Rams and Chargers find themselves in comically similar situations. Both franchises had recently returned to the city of Los Angeles, a city they each had called home at another point in their respective history’s. Both teams had just hired first time head coaches, coming off seasons where neither won more than five games. Both squads solved their problem at left tackle, locking up Andrew Whitworth and Russell Okung. Both teams franchise tagged defensive bookends in Trumaine Johnson and Melvin Ingram. Both even had starting first-round running backs from the same draft class that still can’t outperform their backups.It appeared that the city of Los Angeles had acquired two teams moving in the right direction Chargers Customized Color Rush Jerseys , but still full of as many questions as answers. The “Fight for LA” felt more like a media-driven facade that would take years to come to fruition than a premier battle of league heavyweights. Sure, the first joint practice concluded with actual fighting: but all signs pointed to this race being more of a marathon than a sprint. Welp.Flash forward to the present day, and while the tortoise has made up significant ground, the hare is crossing the finish line. After starting their career 3-6, the Chargers under Anthony Lynn have impressively won 19 of their last 25 games. The only problem is the Rams under Sean Mcvay have gone 26-9, with 2 playoff wins and a Coach of the year award already to his name. The hare hasn’t stopped sprinting since the starting gun sounded. And that’s okay, because the Rams success does not hinder the Chargers Chargers T-Shirts , nor should it be viewed as negative.The City of LAThe Rams playing in the Super Bowl is huge for the city of Los Angeles and its interest in football. LA is a different beast of a market to break into. A city that has nine other professional sports teams to cheer for has never really needed a football team, let alone two. Per ESPN, the 2017 and 2018 Rams had the 31st ranked home attendance by capacity. While the Chargers data is largely skewed due to playing in a 20,000-seat soccer stadium, they by far had the lowest home attendance by number of people in those years. The mocking of the Chargers home stadium situation is just; however, the Rams aren’t even keeping up with the Cleveland Browns in terms of attendance. Rams Success is Chargers SuccessNot only are the Rams setting a benchmark for the Chargers to strive for, their success amplifies the current rivalry of the two teams. In fact https://www.chargersfanstore.com/hats , one could even argue the Rams being bad as an even worse scenario.LA is a city of entertainment, bright lights, and story lines. The people of Los Angeles need a Yankees vs Red Sox style rivalry in their own backyard to get excited about football. In an interview with NBC Sports, Melvin Gordon stated that he “needed the Rams to lose.” Instead of rooting for the Rams to fail, realize that The Chargers are in the news on Super Bowl weekend because of the Rams. The media cares about what the third best running back on the Chargers has to say on Super Bowl weekend, and that is easily the most important takeaway from all of this.If the Rams win Super Bowl 53, the Chargers will have their work cut out for them in claiming an LA fan-base Chargers Hoodie , but at least there will be a fan base to claim. It’s not surprising to see the Chargers sending representation to the local pro days to find some homegrown talent, much like last year when they snagged LB Uchenna Nwosu from USC and C/G Scott..."It’s not surprising to see the Chargers sending representation to the local pro days to find some homegrown talent, much like last year when they snagged LB Uchenna Nwosu from USC and C/G Scott Quessenberry from UCLA.Today it looks like the team is back at USC with a little help from Nwosu, likely doing what he can to help court some of the Trojan players.The Trojans don’t have a ton of high-profile draft prospects this year but there are some interesting mid-round picks that could potentially turn into some future starters.Middle linebacker Cameron Smith showed some explosiveness at the combine by posting a 39-inch vertical on top of a 4.69 forty. Standing 6-foot-2 and weighing in at 238 pounds, Smith does more than enough to fit the mold of the modern linebacker. In 2018, he only played in nine games due to injury, but he still collected 81 tackles with 7.5 tackles-for-loss and a sack.In my recent 7-round mock Doug Flutie Color Rush Jersey , I took offensive tackle Chuma Edoga in the fourth round. The guy is athletic and ran a 5.19 forty after weighing in at 308 pounds in Indy (he played closer to 295 during the season). He would excel in a power run scheme like the Chargers’ with his ability to get out in space and erase defenders outside the hashes.Other Trojan players worth a possible late-day flier would be outside linebacker/edge rusher Porter Gustin (6-4 255), safety Marvell Tell (6-2 195), and cornerback Iman Marshall (6-0 205).