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| Chattanooga Times-Free Press |
The Chargers are in real scramble mode, with more needs than they're going to have picks to fill. New head coach Mike McCoy appears to be catching this team on a hard slide downward. They averaged only 3.6 yards a rush. Phillip Rivers led a passing offense that finished behind Tennessee and Jacksonville. Antonio Gates is a million years old. The offensive line is bad, this mock has the whole top tier gone at that position, and I consider D.J. Fluker too big a reach. The secondary is raw, but Dee Milliner just went off the board. They only list one DT on the entire roster after cutting Antonio Garay and losing Aubrayo Franklin to the Colts in free agency; I had Star Lotulelei teed up and ready to go.
But the Chargers' most critical problem is going to be pass rush. With Shaun Phillips a salary cap casualty, they're returning exactly squat in sack production from a bad linebacking corps. The Chargers have taken their cuts at rush LB in the first round and missed mightily. Larry English, 1.5 sacks last year, 8.5 career sacks. Melvin Ingram, one sack his rookie year. Corey Liuget and Kendall Reyes had nice pass-rushing seasons from the defensive line, but in the 3-4, you've gotta get production from your LBs, and looking at San Diego's roster, I just don't see where they're going to get it. Ingram improving won't be enough.
Meanwhile, Jarvis Jones had 28 sacks his final two seasons in college. Once again, I almost don't need to know anything else about the player to say to take him here. Oh yeah, that was in the SEC. Score!
In real life, San Diego's taking one of the top five o-linemen if they can swing one. And if they're not satisfied that Jones can play at a high level without having his career shortened by neck problems, I imagine they play it safe and take the DT. I think Lotulelei would be higher than Jones on every board, and so far in this mock, I've been pretty careful to draft for value and not reach for need. But if San Diego does draft a defensive player in the first round, I think they're flirting with disaster if they play it safe.
The Dolphins are on the clock.
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