NFL Draft: San Diego Chargers Team Draft Retrospective

This article is part of a series that looks at each NFL team’s recent draft history, with the hope of extracting information about the way they think and the players they value.

The analysis is limited to the past five drafts in the interest of relevance and the first three rounds because that’s where most impact players are taken.

This entry will focus on the San Diego Chargers.

Draft History

In the past five years, the Chargers have taken the following players in the early rounds. Their positions and the rounds in which they were drafted are listed next to their names.

2006:   Antonio Cromartie, CB (1)

           Marcus McNeill, OT (2)

           Charlie Whitehurst, QB (3)

2007:   Buster Davis, WR (1)

           Eric Weddle, S (2)

           Anthony Waters, LB (3)

2008:   Antoine Cason, CB (1)

           Jacob Hester, FB (3)

2009:   Larry English, DE (1)

           Louis Vasquez, G (3)

2010:   Ryan Mathews, RB (1)

           Donald Butler, LB (3)

Breakdown by Position

Here is the number of players the Chargers have drafted for each position:

Cornerback: 2

Linebacker: 2

Defensive end: 1

Fullback: 1

Guard: 1

Offensive tackle: 1

Quarterback: 1

Running back: 1

Safety: 1

Wide receiver: 1

Impact

Antonio Cromartie had some issues in coverage, but was a terrific ballhawk for the Chargers; however, he is now a New York Jet.

Marcus McNeill is a former Pro Bowl left tackle. Eric Weddle is one of the best safeties in the league. Antoine Cason is a very good corner.

Overall, the Chargers have been a contender year in and year out, making it all the way to the AFC Championship Game one year.

However, they are still in pursuit of football’s holy grail.

Trends

The Chargers’ positional distribution in the draft betrays no strong preferences. However, they did take two cornerbacks in the first round, as well as a safety in the second.

Clearly, they value pass defense.

San Diego is one of only two teams over this five year span to spend an early pick on a fullback, a position that is usually strongly ignored in the draft.

One can’t blame Lorenzo Neal’s former team for being partial to the position.

The Chargers haven’t picked in the second round in the past three years, and only have 12 picks in 15 rounds over this span. General manager A.J. Smith has shown a willingness to part with picks to acquire veterans or move up in the draft, as he did last year to secure Ryan Mathews.

2011 Outlook

The Chargers have a ton of talent and dominated on both sides of the ball in terms of yardage. Their downfall was the special teams unit, as well as turnovers and some sloppy play in general.

Most of that can be attributed to coaching rather than personnel, and thus cannot really be fixed in the draft; however, having five draft picks in the first three rounds is a great chance for the Chargers to bring in some young talent.

San Diego needs to upgrade the front seven. The defensive end play last year was not up to par, and A.J. Smith will mostly like dip into a very deep defensive line pool in the first round. There’s an excellent chance that the Chargers could come out of this with either J.J. Watt (Wisconsin) or Cameron Jordan (California), and either would be a slam dunk pick.

Linebackers are needed as well, as they have several impending free agents, not to mention an aging (but still good) Shaun Phillips.

Akeem Ayers (UCLA) could fall to them in the second, but someone like Martez Wilson (Illinois) or Mason Foster (Washington) is more likely.

The offensive line needs help outside of McNeill. Ben Ijalana (Villanova) slipping to them in the second would be ideal, but if that doesn’t happen, they could grab someone like James Brewer (Indiana) or Jason Pinkston (Pittsburgh) in the third.

The receiving corps could use an infusion of talent, as Malcom Floyd is a free agent. Greg Little (North Carolina) or Edmond Gates (Abilene Christian) could be a great draft steal.