The Seahawks must be betting that Charlie Whitehurst will be their quarterback of the future, because they paid quite a price to acquire him from the Chargers on Wednesday night.
Seattle and San Diego swapped second round picks in this April’s draft and the Chargers will also get the Seahawks’ 2011 third round pick in exchange for Whitehurst, who has compiled a grand total of zero pass attempts in four seasons. While it’s important to remember that Philip Rivers is the main reason Whitehurst hasn’t seen the field, it’s also noteworthy that the former Clemson product couldn’t beat out Billy Volek for the No. 2 job.
That said, Whitehurst certainly has all the tools necessary to succeed as a starter. He has ideal size (6’4”, 227 pounds), good athleticism and decent arm strength. The problem is that he doesn’t have any experience, so it’s tough to know at this point what the Seahawks are getting. Either way, with the amount of compensation they gave up to acquire him from San Diego, it’s clear that Whitehurst is Pete Carroll’s quarterback for the future and the team considers him a valuable addition to its roster. If he winds up playing well in Seattle, then the compensation will turn out to be a bargain.
As for the Chargers, they got quite the haul here. Moving up 20 spots in the second round and acquiring a third rounder in 2011 is great deal for a player that was never going to see the field. San Diego did very well here and now it has plenty of pieces to make more moves on draft day.
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