CHARGERS MIDYEAR REPORT CARD : QUARTERBACK

B+ How starved are fans here for a quarterback? John Friesz throws a pair of interceptions that lead directly to touchdowns for the bad guys, including a game-ender in overtime, and everyone gushes about how marvelous he played while completing 33 of 54 passes for 321 yards. Dang, Billy Joe Tolliver threw for 350 yards in his third start and needed only 39 pass attempts . . . against Washington. And he didn’t throw an interception. Friesz, however, looks like a quarterback.

And he is Bobby’s guy, and Bobby’s this organization’s only remaining hope, and every time Bobby’s guy has a good day, frustrated fans are reminded how wrong Henning was to back Tolliver.

Friesz has hit 51.9% of his passes, and that’s not bad when you take into consideration the play of Anthony (Look, Ma, no hands) Miller. Friesz has nine interceptions and nine touchdowns, but a 1-8 mark as a starter.

RUNNING BACKS

A: Bernie The Wimp has pounded out 583 yards. Henning & Beathard had dismissed Rod Bernstine as a whiner who wouldn’t play with an owie, but Bernstine has emerged as the team’s premier performer through the first half of the season. Stubborn Henning, however, continues to ignore Bernstine’s skill as a receiver out of the backfield. This is the same stubborn Henning who insists on making a part-time employee out of Ronnie Harmon. Who needs training camp? Marion Butts. Who needs Butts, Bernstine and Harmon to miss training camp? Eric Bieniemy.

WIDE RECEIVERS

F: Throw a $10 bill in the air in a windstorm and Anthony Miller could be blindfolded and wearing boxing gloves and he’d make the catch. Throw a football to Anthony Miller and he will drop it, then ask for a raise. Chargers considered trading Miller a few weeks ago, and that tells you how far the swift one has slipped.

Henning has been critical of Nate Lewis as his way of defending Miller. Mention Miller’s dropped passes and Henning responds by talking about Lewis’ dropped passes. Kitrick Taylor doesn’t drop passes, but he would be only even money to edge a snail climbing Mt. Helix. Shawn Jefferson has all the speed, but he’s another victim of Henning-phobia, which is fear of playing someone lest they really do well.

H-back Craig McEwen, who would need an hour’s head start to beat that snail, has been used as a wide receiver. Derrick Walker, one of the surprise finds of 1990, is one of the disappointments of 1991.

OFFENSIVE LINE

C: Cincinnati Coach Sam Wyche donates much of his time to help the homeless; the Chargers’ organization continues to shelter the hopeless.

Development of the offensive line each year becomes an exercise in futility. As soon as training camp opens, the line gets reshuffled again. Courtney Hall doubles as center and Welcome Wagon rep to the new group of stiffs assembled each year.

Dan Henning has a better chance of returning next season than starting right tackle Broderick Thompson. David Richards gets no respect at right guard. Eric Moten gets playing time at left guard--despite being handicapped by a sore neck--because the Chargers gave away next year’s No. 1 to get him.

Leo Goeas was going to be the team’s left guard, and then he was picked to be left tackle. Now he’s on the bench behind Harry Swayne because he missed practice time in training camp with a knee injury. Another case of Henning-phobia. Beathard gave a lot of money to Mark May just to watch football games.

DEFENSIVE LINE

F: Some lug named Bryce Paup has 7 1/2 sacks this season for Green Bay and that’s 4 1/2 sacks more than the entire Charger defensive line. No wonder the Chargers are ranked No. 22 overall on defense. Who needs Lee Williams? Burt Grossman. Grossman has 1 1/2 sacks and an edict from management to keep his mouth shut.

At the midway mark last season, the defensive line had 14 1/2 sacks and the defense overall ranked seventh in the league. Who needs Lee Williams? George Hinkle. Hinkle has eight starts and a half a sack. Beathard took George Thornton in the second round before he took Bieniemy and before he traded to get Moten. Who’s George Thornton? George has two tackles this season.

Return of hard working Joe Phillips should have offset the loss of Williams. No pressure on the quarterback puts too much pressure on the Charger secondary.

Charger defensive woes start right here in the line. As a result, the decision to hire Chuck Clausen as defensive line coach will go down as one of Henning’s major miscalculations. Clausen has failed to win respect of his charges, and it shows.

LINEBACKERS

C-: Improvement of Junior Seau has been offset by the rapid decline in O’Neal. Coaches and management have been unable to contend with O’Neal’s eccentric behavior and have beaten him into just punching the clock.

More than anything, defense misses Billy Ray Smith. Players and coaches realize Smith is no longer the player they remember, but defense doesn’t miss his play as much as it misses his presence.

Seau leads team with five sacks and probably will be the lone representative from the Chargers to make it to the Pro Bowl. In addition to igniting fights and collecting face mask penalties, Henry Rolling has become third-leading tackler on the team. Gary Plummer, who is playing one-handed, is No. 2 on the team in tackles.

DEFENSIVE BACKS

D: Who needs Lee Williams? The Chargers’ secondary. Last season, the secondary had 14 interceptions at the halfway mark; this year, it has seven. Lack of pass rush has allowed quarterbacks time to find the touchdown twins, Anthony Shelton and Donald Frank.

Stanley Richard, alias The Sheriff, has played like Deputy Dawg. He came to San Diego with the reputation for being a big-play maker, and so far the opposition has made big plays. Shelton has been bust of the year. He started at strong safety and lasted about as long as the popularity of pet rocks.

Brass wants Frank to replace Sam Seale, which suggests they are in no hurry to start winning any games. Martin Bayless won’t be protected in Plan B.

Gill Byrd still has knack for piling up the interceptions and deserves Pro Bowl invite, but he’s slowing down. Move to safety next year will let him do what he does best: terrorize quarterbacks.

SPECIAL TEAMS

D: John Carney’s performance this season is like the Chargers’ record under Henning: hard to explain. Carney relieved Fuad Reveiz last year and hit 19 of 21 field goals. This year, if he took aim at the ocean, he’d hit Mexico.

Chargers lost a number of special teams performers in Plan B free agency and replacements haven’t covered kicks and punts as well. Coverage teams even include the likes of Butts, Bernstine and Smith, and still they aren’t as good as last year.

Donnie Elder, Lewis and Taylor have added punch to kickoff and punt returns, but as long as Miller isn’t catching a whole lot of passes, why not have him return kicks?

COACHING

F: Friesz has exceeded expectations, Bernstine negated Butts’ holdout and the Chargers’ offense is ranked No. 8 in the league.

And check out the record: 1-7.

Henning has thrown blame on defensive coaching staff, but Henning’s expectations for the defense may have been unrealistic. In addition to losing Williams, the fifth-ranked defense of 1990 went into 1991 with Smith and Bayless on the sideline and Vencie Glenn in New Orleans. Too many changes, too many new people, too bad.

FRONT OFFICE

D: Henning’s record is 13-27 as head coach of the Chargers; Beathard’s mark is 7-17 as general manager of the Chargers.

Beathard will hire a new coach to guide the Chargers next season. At the press conference announcing the appointment, the new coach will praise guard Eric Moten and defend Beathard’s trade of the No. 1 pick in the 1992 draft.

Owner Alex Spanos will step to the microphone and remind everyone how smart Bobby is and how happy he is to have a new coach.

Then he will raise ticket prices.