The San Diego Chargers picked 24-year old cornerback CB Shareece Wright out of USC with the 89th overall pick (3rd round) of the NFL Draft.  Wright is 5’11″, 182 pounds and he runs a 4.5 40.  Wright is good in run support and he’s solid when the plays are in front of him.  When the ball goes over his head though, it’s usually bad news for his team.  Wright played in 13 games (all starts) for USC last season and he had 73 tackles, 10 tackles for a loss, he forced 2 fumbles and he recovered 2 fumbles.  Wright played in 40 games (17 starts) in his five years with the Trojans and he had 127 tackles, broke up 14 passes, 1 interception, 2 forced fumbles and he recovered 3 fumbles.  Wright seems like another reach for need by the Chargers.

The San Diego Chargers didn’t have to look far for this pick as 22-year old WR Vincent Brown played his college ball at San Diego State.  He was picked with the 82nd overall pick (3rd round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Brown is 5’11″, 184 pounds and he runs a 4.5 40.  Brown isn’t the tall type of receiver that the Chargers like but he’s very aggressive going up for the ball when it’s in the air, so he should fit right in.  Brown played in 13 games (12 starts) for San Diego State last season and he had 69 grabs for 1,352 yards (19.6 avg) with 10 TD grabs.  He played in 44 games (39 starts) in his four years with the Aztecs and he caught 209 passes for 3,110 yards (14.9 avg) with 23 TD grabs.  The Chargers have likely been watching Brown for years.  I like this pick for the Chargers.

The San Diego Chargers have taken 23-year old OLB Jonas Mouton out of Michigan with the 61st overall pick (2nd round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Mouton is on the small side at 6’2″, 226 pounds and he runs a 4.7 40.  The problem with Mouton is that he’s too small to deal with offensive lineman when they are coming at him.  His speed should be an asset when he blitzes though.  Mouton played in 10 games (9 starts) for Michigan last year and he had 59 tackles, 3.5 tackles for a loss, 1/2 a sack and 1 interception.  Mouton played in 44 games (42 starts) in his four years with the Wolverines and he had 341 tackles, 26 tackles for a loss, 5 sacks, he broke up 9 passes and he had 6 interceptions.  This looks like another reach for Chargers’ GM A.J. Smith.

UPDATE:  (9/21/2011) – The Chargers have placed Jonas Mouton on the Injured Reserve List ending his season due to a shoulder injury.  He didn’t get into a game in his first two weeks with the Chargers.

The San Diego Chargers picked 22-year old cornerback Marcus Gilchrist out of Clemson with the 50th overall pick (2nd round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Gilchrist is 5’9″, 193 pounds and he runs a 4.5 40.  Gilchrist is a good cover man but he doesn’t have much hands wise as he’s not a playmaker.  Gilchrist played in 13 games (all starts) for Clemson last year and he had 66 tackles, broke up 10 passes and he had 1 interception.  Gilchrist also returned 27 kickoffs for 639 yards (23.7 avg) and 23 punts for 233 yards (10.1 avg) last year. He played in 53 games (28 starts) in his four years with the Tigers and he had 211 tackles, 19 passes broken up, 1 interception, forced 3 fumbles and he recovered 2 fumbles.  Gilchrist will likely help out the Chargers on both defense and special teams, but he was still a reach pick as almost no one had him going this high.

The Chargers didn’t fill an obvious need in the first round by picking 21-year old DT Corey Liuget out of Illinois with the 18th overall pick of the first round of the NFL Draft last night.  But, Liuget might have well be the highest player rated on their board and if that’s the case, this was a good pick.  Liuget is 6’3″, 300 pounds…so he’s not moving to DE.  Liuget played in 13 games (all starts) for Illinois last year and he had 63 tackles, 12.5 tackles for a loss, 4.5 sacks and he batted down three passes.  He played in 36 games (19 starts) overall for the Illini and he had 125 tackles, 25.5 tackles for a loss, 8.5 sacks, 7 batted passes, 2 forced fumbles and he recovered 3 fumbles.  This could look like an outstanding pick down the road for the Chargers, but for now, I’m a little surprised by it.

The San Diego Chargers have a lot of holes on defense but they will likely try to add players on both sides of the ball in next weekend’s NFL Draft.  Here is who I see the Chargers taking in the mock draft I conducted earlier this week:

1st round (#18 overall) – Martez Wilson, ILB, Illinois

2nd round (#50 overall) – Randall Cobb, WR, Kentucky

2nd round (#61 overall) – Allen Bailey, DE, Miami (FL)

3rd round (#82 overall) – Robert Sands, FS, West Virginia

3rd round (#89 overall) – Kyle Randolph, TE, Notre Dame

6th round (#183 overall) – Alex Linnenkohl, C, Oregon State

6th round (#201 overall) – Adam Grant, T, Arizona

7th round (#234 overall) – Anthony Gaitor, CB, Florida International

Wilson, Cobb and Bailey could all be starters from Day #1 for the Chargers while the rest of the picks would likely be backups this year with possible bigger roles down the road.