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SAN DIEGO – Like most NFL teams, the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., has offered a preview of multiple Chargers draft picks over the years.

San Diego, in fact, has drafted at least two participants every April under General Manager A.J. Smith, including a third-round selection or better annually.

It makes sense, given the overall talent level (the game has produced a top 10 pick in 15 straight seasons as well as 144 first-round selections since 1999). Half of the Chargers’ eight draft picks last year were Senior Bowl invitees. Smith has drafted Senior Bowl talent like Vincent Jackson, Darren Sproles, Marcus McNeill, Eric Weddle, Jacob Hester and Donald Butler.

But the 2004 draft, argued as the best in franchise history and a major factor in the team’s five AFC West titles since, was influenced in no small way by that year’s Senior Bowl. It’s remembered well by the scouting department eight years later.

Each year, two NFL coaching staffs put a team of North and South all-stars through what amounts to simulated training camp practices during the week as scouts from all 32 teams get one of their best chances to evaluate seniors in pro-style drills.

The Chargers’ staff coached the South team in 2004. The quarterbacks? J.P. Losman, Matt Schaub and Philip Rivers.

“I remember Philip, obviously, being a quarterback there and how much the coaches really took to him and his leadership and what kind of guy he was,” Director of Player Personnel Jimmy Raye said.

“It was so different because they had a chance to work with him every day and see him take command of the huddle and see how the other players reacted to him. I remember them coming back and it was like a really, really big deal.”

Said Director of College Scouting John Spanos, then a pro and college scout: “I remember ’04 very well. Our coaches had Philip and that was a big insight to the big picture of what Philip’s all about. He’s obviously an impressive person when you interview him, but when you get to see him for a week in meetings, how he runs practices and everything he’s about, it just made us, as a group, that much more comfortable with his ability and excited about going to get him.”

The North team included a plethora of eventual Chargers, many of whom San Diego acquired in its draft-day trade with the New York Giants that also secured Rivers. The Bolts drafted Nate Kaeding (third round), Nick Hardwick (third round), Shaun Phillips (fourth round), Michael Turner (fifth round) and Shane Olivea (seventh round) from that North squad, which also included eventual Chargers in Kris Wilson and Travis LaBoy.