What A Fricken Draft

[therber219]

Without trading their pick at 7, which I would have loved, they have done a great job. OL was bar far the weakest position on the team, and to be able to get Lamp in the 2nd without a trade was a great pick up. Williams wouldn't have been my first choice, but I do see the need for some stability at WR, and I really like the way he goes after the ball.
I'm looking forward to seeing what Gordon can do with a better line. This team has always been better when they control the clock. I hope they go back to the Bobby Ross days and run to set up the pass. I think this is the best defensive unit front to back that I'e seen as a fan, in 32 years? they are solid if healthy, so if the offense controls the clock, they can be very good.... Just a huge fans opinion...

[Fleet]

How about we draft Westbrook as a slot WR/Returner and cut Benjamin?

[oneinchpunch]

The only bummer, with the way this draft has gone, is that Woodhead isnt still a Bolt. Those quick holes in the middle wouldve been positive yards everytime

[Millionaire Wussy]

Without trading their pick at 7, which I would have loved, they have done a great job. OL was bar far the weakest position on the team, and to be able to get Lamp in the 2nd without a trade was a great pick up. Williams wouldn't have been my first choice, but I do see the need for some stability at WR, and I really like the way he goes after the ball.
I'm looking forward to seeing what Gordon can do with a better line. This team has always been better when they control the clock. I hope they go back to the Bobby Ross days and run to set up the pass. I think this is the best defensive unit front to back that I'e seen as a fan, in 32 years? they are solid if healthy, so if the offense controls the clock, they can be very good.... Just a huge fans opinion...

Agree with all of that. They must really love Mike Williams to have been offered a chance to acquire more picks and refuse. And I can see the wisdom in getting a quality WR too.

[Millionaire Wussy]

How about we draft Westbrook as a slot WR/Returner and cut Benjamin?

We won't suffer a cap hit if we cut Benjamin?

[oneinchpunch]

Slauson: “Our organization is really quiet about what they look to do in the draft. I wanted to see what it was going to be. We are getting a lot of players who will help us win now. That’s great as opposed to going a different route in a building route. These picks tell me the opposite. These picks tell me we are here to win now.”

[Fleet]

[Beerman]

Slauson: “Our organization is really quiet about what they look to do in the draft. I wanted to see what it was going to be. We are getting a lot of players who will help us win now. That’s great as opposed to going a different route in a building route. These picks tell me the opposite. These picks tell me we are here to win now.”

Would be idiotic of them not to given Rivers can still play.

They can draft his replacement when he retires.

Just wish they could have done more in FA.

[Bolt-O]

Kraz rains on the parade:

The strangely addicting football hootenanny called the NFL Draft is now three-sevenths done.

Three draftees, selected 7th, 38th and 71st, have joined the so-called Chargers of Los Angeles, known too as the Chinos — or CHINOS — because they’re Chargers In Name Only.

To balance out the rah-rah coverage, we offer a glass half-empty look.

Chinos first pick: Clemson WR Mike Williams, selected Thursday night.

A flight delay Friday pushed back the 22-year-old’s arrival to Carson for his intro to a sliver of the Los Angeles media.

Maybe the Spanoses should’ve flown him on a private jet.

For the sake of young Williams, one hopes the upcoming poker game at the bargaining table is a smooth one.

A year ago, despite league rules that make most rookie-contract negotiations a snap, the Spanoses and the agent for top Chargers draftee Joey Bosa were at loggerheads for most of the summer.

By the time the deal got done, training camp was over, a remarkable lose-lose.

The other 158 first-round players drafted under the league’s current labor pact were signed either before training camp or soon after it began.

Did they miss a special one?: If former Ohio State safety Malik Hooker is as good as former NFL scout and El Cajon product Daniel Jeremiah says, the Chinos missed out on the next Ed Reed, the former Baltimore Ravens great.
You’ll see Reed’s bust in the Pro Football Hall of Fame someday. The Indianapolis Colts took Hooker 15th.

Second pick: Offensive lineman Forrest Lamp, Western Kentucky.

Ex-Bolts defender Shawne Merriman announced Lamp’s selection Friday night to the crowd in Philadelphia.

So, this was a case of going from Lights Out to Light On.

Also promising for him, Lamp was widely viewed as the top guard of the draft due to his athleticism, his toughness and his successes versus SEC powers Alabama and LSU.

He played left tackle for Western Kentucky, pitting him against the opponent’s best pass-rushers.

But he is short-armed, a potential glitch versus NFL defenders who may knock him off track if they beat him to the punch.

Was this selection a reach? This draft class of blockers is very weak. Lamp fills a seemingly acute need as an interior lineman but, relative to a normal year for blockers may have been over-drafted.

Third pick: Guard Dan Feeney, Indiana.

Concussed as a senior, Feeney missed four games with the brain injury. A foot injury cost him the 2013 season.

Feeney nonetheless was a steady performer who appeared in 46 games and was named the team’s 2016 MVP.

Advanced as a zone-scheme run blocker, he’ll have to learn the nuances of pass-protection.

Improving his lower-body strength may be crucial. “I don’t think he can play,” a scout told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s Bob McGinn. “Weak in his lower body. His only chance is at center.”

Bad juju in the third: Keenan Allen was a terrific third-round selection, back in 2013 when the Spanos-Telesco front office made its draft debut.

Allen, a smooth receiver from Cal who was recovering from a posterior knee-ligament injury, was available for all 17 games as a rookie, playing in 16 and performing well for the most part.

Since, the injury bug has devoured him in each season — cracked collarbone in 2014, lacerated kidney in 2015 and torn knee ligament in the 2016 opener.

How about the other third-round draftees that followed him to Chargers Park?

Injuries waylaid Chris Watt, a guard-center drafted out of Notre Dame in 2014. The team released him this year.

Craig Mager, the selection out of Texas State in 2015, has yet to secure regular playing time. Injuries have sidetracked him, too.

The third-round selection last year was Max Tuerk, an offensive lineman from USC who was coming off reconstructive knee surgery.

Tuerk never played as a rookie. Undrafted Spencer Pulley kept him on the inactive list even after Tuerk’s recovery was announced as complete. In recent practices, Pulley was the center. Matt Slauson and Kenny Wiggins were the main guards, with Orlando Franklin, the presumptive starter at right guard, in spectating mode.

The investments in Lamp and Feeney derived in part to the team’s skepticism about the interior line. In addition to Watt not panning out and Tuerk playing a steep game of catch-up, Franklin’s cost has exceed his production since he arrived on a free-agent contract two offseasons ago.

Tom.Krasovic@SDUnionTribune.com; Twitter: SDUTKrasovic

[Fleet]

I dont think we need to post former charger reporter haters articles here. Its all the same hate propaganda. It dosnt matter who the picks are they are all just gonna shit on them. Toregerson. Heilbrun. All of them. Just post these stupid articles on the hate forum. Im tired of reading them.

[Steve]

Im pretty surprised we just went and solidified the offense like that. When TT said the other day that the draft was defense heavy i was sort of wondering if he was going to allow all the defensive guys to get picked allowing the good O players to rise up and snatch them. I had Feeney and Lamp as first round talent guys. I feel like we drafted 3 1st rounders over the past 2 days. I was so convinced we were going defense heavy.

I couldnt be happier. I know we need pieces on defense but if offensive players are there with better value then you go BPA. This interior OL is going to be insane. Gordon will no longer get hit behind the LOS on every run. Hopefully keeping him healthier. We have a shitload of depth on the OL and WR.

We get what many thought was the best WR and OG. And 2nd best OG. The fact that Lamp can play all 3 positions is a huge plus. Before Feeney was drafted Telesco said he would be used at OG. But now that Feeney is drafted i wonder if Lamp will get a shot at RT.

At any rate we should stop seeing pockets collapse so easily. I expect us to be one of the best offenses in the league if we can keep Rivers on his feet. And this was how you go about doing that.

I think the D is much more complete than the O, dispite the fact that it is really just the OL that needs work on O. When one position group is that weak, it really, really holds the rest back.

[richpjr]

I dont think we need to post former charger reporter haters articles here. Its all the same hate propaganda. It dosnt matter who the picks are they are all just gonna shit on them. Toregerson. Heilbrun. All of them. Just post these stupid articles on the hate forum. Im tired of reading them.

It's getting to the point where I am thinking about not reading anything these butt-hurt clowns write or listening to local sports talk radio. They are all a bunch of petulant, petty little people who act like they are owed something. Nobody is happy the team moved - we all get that. But the vitriol being spewed gets old.