For me, when it's clear the Chargers aren't going to win the Super Bowl, which has come into reality by Week 16 over the last two seasons, I fall into the trap of believing I actually possess the knowledge to put the team over the top. In other words, I all of a sudden become the San Diego Chargers general manager in my own mind, leading me to fantasize about signing the right free agents and drafting future Hall of Famers.
During this offseason, I looked into as many prospects as I could find, but I was well aware of South Carolina defensive end Melvin Ingram before that. As a fan who watches college football each Saturday during the fall, there was no way I could have missed Ingram's 68-yard fake punt run for a touchdown against Georgia last September 10.
Even so, I wasn't mesmerized by Ingram's skills, and I favored USC's Nick Perry, Illinois' Whitney Mercilus, and Clemson's Andre Branch when it came to the possibilities of filling the Chargers' need at pass-rushing outside linebacker. And admittedly, when San Diego general manager A.J. Smith was on the clock with the 18th overall pick in the first round last Thursday, I was screaming for him to select either Stanford offensive guard David DeCastro or Iowa offensive tackle Riley Reiff.
Now that the days have rolled by, however, I have changed my mind completely. Now I love Ingram. A player I was hoping the Chargers wouldn't draft in the first round is now the man I expect to be the missing piece to a championship defense. Yeah, that's right; I'm no different than the rest of the nutty fans who change their minds when a player joins their team.
Anyway, it seems as though every draft expert believes the Chargers made one of the best picks in the entire draft. Reading glowing reports of Ingram after the selection was made was very nice, but what was even better was reading what was written about him before the draft. My favorite was written by Doug Farrar of Yahoo! Sports Shutdown Corner.
In his predraft scouting report, Farrar mentions that Ingram is an elite defensive player who has just one flaw: his short arms. But Farrar, who compares Ingram to Pittsburgh Steelers standout linebacker Lamar Woodley, believes teams passing on the South Carolina product for that shortcoming are making a huge mistake.
"Teams that are building their defenses with size as the main priority will shy away from Ingram, and they may very well regret it when he's beating the crap out of their quarterbacks for the next decade,," Farrar writes. "For teams in need of versatile players who do many things very well, Ingram will be of more interest. I would think that any defensive coordinator with a preference for multiple fronts would love to have him in the palette.
"There are great cornerbacks that get more play at the top of mock boards, but I believe that Melvin Ingram is the best overall defensive player in the 2012 draft class. As an every-down, every-gap, every-direction force, he stands alone."
I read this scouting report a few days before the draft and totally disagreed with Farrar. Now that Ingram is a Charger, I fully believe Farrar has an amazing eye for talent, and I know absolutely nothing.
Welcome to San Diego, Melvin Ingram!
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