The Chargers traded up last April in order to select 23-year old RB Ryan Mathews with the #12 overall pick of the first round.  With that in mind the Chargers expect much more out of Mathews than what they have gotten so far this year.  Mathews has played in 9 games for the Chargers so far this year and he has carried the ball 103 times for 447 yards (4.3 ypc) with 3 TD runs.  He also has caught 16 passes for 98 yards (6.1 avg) so far this year.  The most troubling thing about Mathews’ rookie season is that he can’t beat out fullback Mike Tolbert for the featured role in the offense.

The Chargers have picked TE Dedrick Epps with the 235th overall pick (7th round) of the NFL Draft.  Epps is a big guy at 6’3″, 250 pounds and he runs a 4.7 40.  Epps has good hands and he is a very willing blocker in the running game so he could be a find for the Chargers in the 7th round.  Epps played in 12 games for the Miami (FL) Hurricanes last season and he caught 19 passes for 247 yards (13.0 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  He has played in 38 games in his career with the Hurricanes and he caught 49 passes for 634 yards (12.9 avg) with 6 TD grabs.  This was a good guy to take a chance on this late in the draft for the Chargers.

The Chargers have picked QB Jonathan Crompton with the 168th overall pick (5th round) of the NFL Draft.  Crompton has nice size at 6’3″, 222 pounds but he’s not much of a threat to take off running out of the pocket as he is slow (5.0 40).  Despite being slow though Crompton still has enough mobility to buy himself time in the pocket.  He has a good arm but he’s a little short on experience as last season was his only one as a starting QB from start to finish.  He played in 13 games for the Tennessee Volunteers last season and he completed 224 of 384 passes (58.3%) for 2,800 yards with 27 TD passes and 13 INTs.  He played in 35 games in his career in Tennessee and he completed 348 of 629 passes (55.3%) for 4,187 yards with 36 TD grabs and 22 INTs.  Crompton is a good prospect who the Chargers can take their time in developing due to having Philip Rivers and Billy Volek ahead of him on the depth chart.

The Chargers have picked DT Cam Thomas out of North Carolina with the 146th overall pick (5th round) of the NFL Draft.  Thomas is a huge man at 6’3″, 331 pounds and he’s a solid athlete for a man his size.  Cam Thomas is a classic bull rusher/run defender and that is just what the doctor ordered for the Chargers’ D.  Thomas played in 12 games (all starts) for the Tar Heels in which he had 23 tackles and 2.5 tackles for a loss.  He played in 44 games (28 starts) in his four years at North Carolina in which he finished up with 83 tackles, 9 tackles for a loss, he had 3.5 sacks and he forced 1 fumble.  Thomas will keep the Chargers’ linebackers clean as he will demand a double team a lot.  He was projected by many draft “experts” to be picked in the 2nd or 3rd round so the Chargers got excellent value with this pick.

The Chargers have picked safety Darrell Stuckey with the 110th overall pick (4th round) of the NFL Draft.  Stuckey is 5’11″, 200 pounds and he runs a 4.55 40.  Stuckey is not a physical player despite his size but he is a decent coverage safety.  He is definitely more of a free safety because he doesn’t have the stones to defend against the run.  He played in 12 games (all starts) at Kansas last season and he finished up with 93 tackles, he broke up 2 passes, had 1 interception and he forced 1 fumble.  Stuckey played in 45 games (42 starts) in college and he finished up with 295 tackles, he broke up 18 passes, had 8 interceptions, 1 forced fumble and he recovered 1 fumble.  He might develop into a starting safety down the road if he toughens up a bit but his main job at least in his rookie season will be helping out on special teams.

The Chargers have picked linebacker Donald Butler with the 79th overall pick (3rd round) of the NFL Draft.  Butler is a big guy at 6’1″, 244 pounds and he can play either outside or inside doing whatever the Chargers need him to.  Butler played in 12 games (all starts) for Washington last season and he finished up with 94 tackles, 15.5 tackles for a loss, he had 1 sack, broke up 2 passes and he intercepted 2 passes.  In his four years in college, Butler played in 43 games (27 starts) in which he made 239 tackles, 27 tackles for a loss, he had 3 sacks, broke up 5 passes and he had 2 interceptions.  This was a excellent pick for the Chargers as Butler can play either inside or outside and he will be a special teams ace from day #1.

UPDATE:  (8/31/2010) – The Chargers have placed Donald Butler on I.R. with a torn Achilles tendon.

The Chargers have traded 27-year old linebacker Tim Dobbins to the Dolphins as part of the deal to move up and select RB Ryan Mathews in the first round of the NFL Draft.  Dobbins played in 14 games for the Chargers last season making 55 tackles, he had 1 sack, 2 tackles for a loss, he forced 1 fumble, defensed 1 pass and he had 1 interception.  Dobbins played in 62 games in his four years with the Chargers and he made 151 tackles, defensed 6 passes, had 1 sack, forced 5 fumbles and he had 2 interceptions.  This will hurt the Chargers’ depth at linebacker but they felt they had to make this deal if they wanted a starting type RB.

The Chargers traded the Dolphins the #28 pick in the first round, a 2nd round pick, a 4th rounder and inside linebacker Tim Dobbins for the right to select RB Ryan Mathews out of Fresno State.  With C.J. Spiller off the board the Chargers had no choice but to trade up ahead of the Houston Texans to nab Mathews.  They paid a lot to move up and get Mathews so pressure will be on him to produce right away.  Mathews played in 12 games (11 starts) for Fresno State last season in which he carried the ball 276 times for 1,808 yards (6.6 ypc) with 19 TD runs and he also caught 11 passes for 122 yards (11.1 avg).   A concern with Mathews is that he missed games every year with injuries.  That could be due to his running style which is straight up quite a bit.  He played in 31 games (16 starts) in his three years at Fresno and he carried the ball 534 times for 3,280 yards (6.1 ypc) with 39 TD runs.  He also caught 19 passes for 268 yards (14.1 avg) with 2 TD grabs at Fresno.  Look for Mathews to split time with Darren Sproles in the backfield in 2010 before taking over as the main man in 2011.

The Chargers have lost a few players over the off-season and they have done little to replace them.  Hopefully GM A.J. Smith will make smart decisions to fill the holes that are all over the Chargers’ roster right now.  The Chargers have 3 of the first 91 picks in the NFL Draft and they have 7 overall picks this weekend.  The Chargers have needs at RB, NT, DE, OT, CB and S and with that in mind I look for them to consider players like RB Ryan Mathews, CB Perrish Cox, CB Patrick Robinson and S Taylor Mays in the first round of the draft.

PROJECTED FIRST ROUND PICK:  Ryan Mathews, RB, Fresno State

The Chargers got some help for the defense and the offensive line last April but they expected more out of this rookie crop.  OLB/DE Larry English (1st round, #16 overall) out of Northern Illinois was supposed to help out with the pass rush in 2009 but that didn’t happen.  He played in all 16 games for the Chargers last season and he made 36 tackles, forced 1 fumble, defensed 1 pass and he had 2 sacks.  OG Louis Vasquez (3rd round, #78 overall) out of Texas Tech was solid for the Chargers as he played and started in 14 games for them as a rookie.  DT Vaughn Martin (4th round, #113 overall) out of Western Ontario played in 10 games as a rookie for the Chargers and he made only 5 tackles.  OG Tyronne Green (4th round, #133 overall) out of Auburn only played in 3 games (0 starts) as a rookie last season for the Chargers.  RB Gartrell Johnson (4th round, #134 overall) out of Colorado State was cut by the Chargers before the season started despite being the leading rusher for them in the preseason.  Johnson was then signed by the Giants.  He played in 10 games for the Giants last season and he carried the ball 13 times for 43 yards (3.3 ypc).  He also caught 1 pass for 15 yards and he made 1 tackle for the Giants as a rookie.  The Chargers should have held onto Johnson.  Safety Kevin Ellison (6th round, #189 overall) out of USC was a steal for the Chargers late in the draft.  He played in 13 games in which he finished up with 52 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 1 sack and 3 passes defensed.  CB Brandon Hughes (5th round, #148 overall) out of Oregon State and WR Demetrius Byrd (7th round, #224 overall) out of LSU spent their rookie seasons on the Injured Reserve List.

GRADE FOR 2009:  C-

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  C