MVN - Most Valuable Network

With The 27th Pick In The MVN Mock Draft, The San Diego Chargers Will Pick…

I really am not certain.

As always, speculation is rampant and with General Manager A.J. Smith being notorious for his close-mouthed approach to the draft it is far from the easiest thing to do for this blog.  Especially because I am no Mel Kiper-obsessed draftnik.  I pay a minimum of attention most years.

The needs for the Chargers are really best addressed in the second and third rounds.  The problem is that we don’t have picks in those rounds.  I think a trade with a team hoping to move up and snag a particular player is very likely come the actual draft day… but that is not how the MVN mock draft works.  Here, I need to pick a player.

I have some infatuation with Ray Rice of Rutgers.  Rice is said to have a great work ethic and have the hard nosed approach both  A.J. and the Legions of the Lightning Bolt love.  At 5′8″and 199 pounds he is not huge.  But he attacks his runs and became the first Big East running back to clear the 2000 yard plateau last year, despite the fact that every opponents first priority was to stop him.  He also set a Rutgers career record with 49 touchdowns.  Rice could be a wonderful complement to L.T.  Darren Sproles is good and showed his worth against the Colts, but his style doesn’t create the one-two punch the combination of Michael Turner and L.T. did.  The biggest problem I have with  Rice is that most people think he will still be available mid to late second round and I would rather see a trade backwards to get him then, while also picking up a thrid round pick.

Another good option is USC’s Sam Baker.  Baker’s durability is questionable due to injury problems, but it would be hard to pass up a three time All-American at the 27th spot. He is strong and quick and the Chargers have risked the injury bug before when Marcus McNeil slipped based on rumors.  That turned out quite well.  At 6′5″ and 312, his size is fine and A.J. has shown a believe that playing in a pressured environment like that of USC is a positive in his eyes.

Of course, it all depends on what Jacksonville does too…

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 20th, 2008 at 11:57 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.