LaBoy released; time for English to step up



This season Larry English (right) needs to show why the Chargers picked him in the first round of the 2009 NFL draft

After signing former Baltimore Ravens outside linebacker Jarret Johnson and investing a first-round pick on South Carolina defensive end Melvin Ingram this offseason, the San Diego Chargers, feeling "overloaded" with pass-rushers, released Travis LaBoy this morning.

A second-round pick of the Titans in the 2004 draft, LaBoy spent his first seven seasons in the NFL with Tennessee, the Arizona Cardinals, and the San Francisco 49ers before signing a two-year deal with San Diego last summer. He made 14 starts with the Chargers last season but was ineffective as a pass-rusher, as evidenced by him finishing the year with just one sack.

LaBoy's release is good news for Larry English, San Diego's first-round pick in 2009. Labeled by many as a bust already, it was speculated that English would have to compete for a roster spot with LaBoy this summer. Now that LaBoy is gone, however, English has a better chance of making the team.

At the moment, the Chargers have six outside linebackers on their roster: English, Ingram, Johnson, Antwan Barnes, Daryl Gamble, and Shaun Phillips. San Diego should carry five outside linebackers on its regular-season roster in 2012, and English should beat Gamble out for the final spot. The key for English is remaining healthy, as he's missed a total of 19 games over the last two seasons with injuries. He has a total of seven sacks in 29 games thus far in his three-year career.

In other Chargers'-related news, the team signed veteran offensive lineman Rex Hadnot to a one-year contract last week. Hadnot, selected in the sixth round of the 2004 draft by the Miami Dolphins, has experience at both center and guard. In addition to the Dolphins, he's played with the Cleveland Browns and the Arizona Cardinals. He will provide depth to the interior line, which is crucial to the team's well-being now that Johnnie Troutman, whom the Chargers picked in the fifth round nine days ago, is likely out for the entire 2012 season, thanks to a torn pectoral muscle he suffered while lifting weights two weeks before the draft. Hadnot will join Brandyn Dombrowski and Stephen Schilling as the backups to Tyronne Green and Louis Vasquez.

And finally, the Chargers have expressed interest in a reunion with cornerback Drayton Florence. San Diego's second-round pick of the 2003 draft, Florence spent five years with the Chargers before joining the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2008. He was with the Buffalo Bills for the last three seasons.

Florence has 53 starts in his nine-year career, and although the Bills had valid reasons for releasing him, he would provide great depth to a cornerback unit that currently possesses Quentin Jammer, Antoine Cason, Marcus Gilchrist, and Shareece Wright.