Gang Green Nation Community Mock Draft Pick #28

by John B on Apr 7, 2010 9:30 PM EDT

The Jets are one pick away in our mock. Before that, the Chargers are up. The Jets knocked San Diego out of the Playoffs and ended up trading for two of their starters, one of whom is arguably the greatest player in Chargers history. GGN member random122 will make the pick.

With the twenty-eighth pick in the Gang Green Nation Community Mock Draft, random122 picks for the San Diego Chargers...

Ryan Mathews

He's the popular choice among most mocks for the Chargers, so this isn't much of a surprise here. With basically just Darren Sproles left in the backfield, the Chargers are in need of a back that can come in and play right off the bat. Mathews best fits this role. NT was an option here as well, but Mathews is the safer pick between the two.

My reaction:

San Diego's run offense was not very good last year, and a heaping portion of the blame has to go to the running backs. Sproles is back, but Mathews profiles as an excellent number one runner. As random said, an awful lot of mocks see this as a fit. I'm not so sure this is a match made in heaven. Offense was never a problem for the Chargers last year. They are also a pass heavy team, and Matthews is undistinguished as a receiver. Jerry Hughes would look good here to bolster the pass rush since Shanwe Merriman wasn't the same player in 2009. You may point out they took Larry English in the first round last year. How about Jared Odrick? There may be no value at nose tackle, but Odrick at end could do a lot to help what was a bad run defense in 2009.

As with a lot of these picks, I really can't say too much bad because I really like the player selected.

Poll

Who would be the best choice for the Chargers?

Ryan Matthews

143 votes

Jared Odrick

32 votes

Jerry Hughes

17 votes

Other

37 votes

229 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 5 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Their offense did perfectly fine without a running game

I seriously doubt they are going to use a pick that high on what is essentially an afterthought in their offense. Plus, after finding Sproles and Michael Turner in later rounds of the draft, I don’t really see them taking an RB in the first round with the current administration running things. A bigger need for them at this point is NT after they lost Jamal Williams, and I would expect them to try to address that need at this point in the draft.

The really sad thing is I think they’re gonna end up with Ben Tate :’(

by Exystence on Apr 7, 2010 10:44 PM EDT reply actions

I thought Terrence Cody might last ‘til the second round, but since he (and Dan Williams) was already off the board by the time pick 28 came, I think Matthews represented the best value to fill one of their two most pressing needs (NT and RB). They’re a pass-heavy team and they did do well without the running game, except when they didn’t. You saw how they fared against us. They tried to run and picked up scrap yardage if anything. Also check their loss to Baltimore. The lack of a running game helped cost them both games.

by random122 on Apr 8, 2010 5:17 AM EDT up reply actions

True story, and I agree that RB is a need for them, but like I said after picking up a guy like Michael Turner in the late rounds once upon a time and having a guy like Sproles who they picked up in the 4th round, I think they’d be comfortable finding value with later pick, i.e. getting Ben Tate in the 2nd or 3rd :’(

Another thing is, yeah LDT is less effective than he used to be but I really do wonder how much of that had to do with bad blocking. Unless you’ve got Barry Sanders, you’re not gonna have a good running game no matter who’s back there if the run blocking is terrible. Maybe they should be looking OL at this spot, too…?

by Exystence on Apr 8, 2010 8:51 AM EDT up reply actions

I pretty much agree with you too. There are plenty of RBs in this draft and they could wait until later to pick one up. I really wanted to draft someone for that RT spot, but didn’t feel like anyone was worth the first round pick especially considering their next pick is only 12 picks away. I don’t consider RB as something they need to grab in the first, it just happens that Matthews is the best pick available for their needs in my opinion.

by random122 on Apr 8, 2010 1:27 PM EDT up reply actions