18th pick of the 2012 draft

Well...I'm gonna cheer and hope the kid is a monster for us, cause what the heck else can we do now???!!!

Bingo!!!

Just seems like some on here are going to be disgruntled no matter what we did. Ingram is and was an extremely productive player many had as the best pure pass rusher in this draft. He was not expected to be available this late with our pick. We have sorely missed a premium pass rusher since Merriman. I am not going to argue or complain about this pick at all. He may not be a star, but looking at the tape, it's hard to say he could possibly be a bust either. Compared to past years, we'll take that.

No Charger fan will be bitching once they see this kid on the field busting up Peyton Manning and Carson Palmer. And whatever Gimp KC trots out there to play for them.

I will say this, Ingram is a hell of an athlete. In the SEC, he played DT, DE, OLB, ILB and was a major contributor on special teams. He was rated by most as the best OLB prospect at the end of the season.

He had a ton of sacks, but he had ZERO forced fumbles in college. I see that as a sign of someone who really does not know how to tackle.
While size does not mean everything (Elvis Dumerville is pretty good despite being shorter than 6-0), it does mean something.
The "ideal" for DE is 6-4, 280, 33" arms, 9 7/8" hands. For OLB, 6-3, 250, 33" arms, 9 1/2 hands.
Ingram? 6-2, 280, 30 1/2 arms, 9 1/4 hands.

The ceiling is high for Ingram. He could be a stud. But I do think his floor is low. He could be over-matched by massive NFL linemen.

DeCastro, on the other hand, has a ceiling through the roof. His floor is he is very good/serviceable guard, not a Pro Bowl guard.

Another thing, a guard is out there EVERY play and makes an impact EVERY play.

If you have a crappy guard, you can't really cover that up very well. The running game falls apart. The passing game falls apart. You start trying to use the center, tackle and maybe fullback or running back to help block, and that just creates holes somewhere else.

If a DE/OLB has a bad game, you have a safety and other LBs to flow and help.


If a guard gives up a sack a game, he is garbage and out of a job quickly.
If a DE/OLB does not get a sack every game, it's no big deal.
If a guard does not give up a sack, he is merely doing his job.
If a DE/OLB gets a sack a game, he is a super star.

The Chargers needed (and still do need) a stud guard. That DE/OLB could be had down the line. The drop off in interior linemen is pretty drastic.

well said ...it's not like I'm saying Ingram sucks and is an automatic bust but DeCastro is a RARE find and on a team this thin, you just do it, you take him, he's automatic.

Yeah but the draft this year is full of good OGs and OTs. To be honest, i didnt think highly of any other pass rushers going in the 1st round aside from merciles. Even then i wasnt to excited.

We basically got the top prospected pass rusher in the draft at 18. I am excited about that. And for everyone thinking we are set witb Phillips, comeon. He isnt getting any younger.

What round was Dielman drafted?

A Round 1 pick should be an immediate starter.

Ingram is not starting right away and probably will not start at any point in the season unless someone gets injured. He is not beating out Shaun Phillips and he is not beating out Jarret Johnson. He is not starting at DE ahead of Liguit, Castillo or Martin. Ingram is a situational guy.

DeCastro would start Day 1. Other guards still available in the draft (Cordy Glenn, Amini Silatolu, Tony Bergstrom, Joe Looney, Lucas Nix) are a bit of a project and need to be slowly worked into the mix.

So what you are saying is that in a bowl full of poop, we got the nicest turd?