Apr 26, 2013; San Diego, CA, USA; Chargers first round draft pick right tackle D.J. Fluker during a press conference at the Chargers Training Facility. Mandatory Credit: Jody Gomez-USA TODAY Sports

Then came the selections today…

Manti Te’o with our selection in the 2nd round! Ohhhh-emmmm-geeeee! The kid is productive on the football field. Ever want to just take the attention away from Philip Rivers? Done. Te’o is going to work well with Donald Butler in the middle flying to the football. Te’o is always around the football and knows how to read quarterbacks. He had SEVEN interceptions at middle backer last season. The kid will produce.

Then in the 3rd we come back with WR Keenan Allen. Allen may be the best receiver in this draft, but he didn’t test well. Looks like Tom Telesco doesn’t care too much about 40 times. Allen is another playmaker to add on offense and can make things happen after the catch. I definitely can see Allen working his way into the lineup in the slot and on the edge. He is good at finding soft spots in zone defenses and can take short passes to the house.

Let the excitement build. Can we start the season already?

Aug. 27, 2011; Glendale, AZ, USA; San Diego Chargers center Nick Hardwick prepares to snap the ball against the Arizona Cardinals during a preseason game at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

by James Fedewa

Tackle or Guard. Tuard or Gackle. Who will San Diego select in the first round?

75% of Chargers fans and Draft Experts have San Diego choosing an offensive tackle or an offensive guard with their first round pick. Obviously, it’s the biggest need in San Diego has to be the offensive line (since releasing Jared Gaither, losing Luis Vasquez and watching Tyronne Green find someone else to let down) . Since money & salary cap are very limited, there is not a lot the Chargers can do with new free agents. So GM Tom Telesco must revamp a bad offensive line and find three new starters and he wants to build through the draft.

Telesco has signed three “under the radar” types of offensive linemen in King Dunlap, Rich Ohrnberger and Chad Rinehart. All three additions seem like “depth” (and better than last season) but maybe one or two can turn into a quality every day starter. Rinehart and Dunlap both have ties with San Diego’s new offensive line coach Joe D’alessandris (“Coach Joe-D”). D’alessandris is an offensive line mastermind specializing in the zone blocking scheme, yet playing within the teams strengths (mixing zone and power blocking). Coach D’ is really going to have to start from scratch in San Diego since the only two starters from last years team are center Nick Hardwick and right tackle Jeremy Clary (both were below average last season, nor experienced in zone blocking). Coach D’s three years prior with the Buffalo Bills produce quality offensive linemen and with later round draft picks. So it’s safe to say San Diego’s biggest free agent offensive lineman (so far) is Coach Joe D’alessandris.

Current NFL draft projections could have the Chargers missing out of the top three left tackle prospects Luke Joeckel, Eric Fisher and Lane Johnson. So the most logical thing to do is draft the next best position, a guard: either Chance Warmack or Jonathan Cooper. Both prospects look super on game tape and both are very unique with great qualities. But drafting either guard still leaves San Diego with a glaring need at left tackle, and the Chargers need a starter. So drafting a guard in the first round, San Diego would start Cooper or Warmack and still have to look for a starting left tackle with their second or third round pick. .

If Chance Warmack is selected in the first round, he’s a left guard. So Chargers fans can nearly guarantee two rookies starting on the left side of the o-line 2013, which is not necessarily desirable.

Now who will that starting left tackle be?

• Left Tackle: King Dunlap (or Terron Armstead, Justin Pugh, Kyle Long, Dallas Thomas, Menelik Watson)
• Left Guard: Chance Warmack, Troutman
• Center: Hardwick, Molk, Baxter
• Right Guard: Rinehart, Ohrnberger
• Right Tackle: Jeromey Clary, Mike Harris

Typically, cohesiveness is the best quality about a starting five offensive line, which takes time, familiarity and practice. Starting two rookies within a starting five is a very large gamble and the odds do not favor rookie duos. Second or third round left tackles usually are very raw, and should not start immediately as rookies. However, even with King Dunlap starting, the offensive line is still an improvement from last year’s M.Harris, T.Green, Hardwick, Rinehart & Clary, especially with the addition of Coach Joe D’alessandris and his blocking scheme.

There are also trade options for a veteran left tackle, but San Diego is very limited within their small salary cap. The left tackle trading block isn’t typically big either. Some names floating around Chargers fans are:

• Chiefs Branden Albert would cost too much, especially within the division.
• Rams Rodger Saffold is in his final year of his rookie contract so he’s inexpensive (good for the Rams) but he’ll demand a lot more money in 2014 as a left tackle free agent and the Rams will not resign him (since signing Jake Long in free agency).
• J’Marcus Webb has been replaced in Chicago. May be available in trade.
• Doug Free may be on the chopping block in Dallas, and he has left tackle experience.
• Levi Brown is making left tackle money in Arizona this year. If the decide to draft a left tackle in the draft, cutting Brown could save a lot of money for the Cardinals.
• 33 year old Bryant McKinnie just won a Super Bowl in Baltimore and is still could be an inexpensive free agent.
• Demetress Bell is a free agent, with ties with Coach D’. He’s an injury risk, but talented & probably too unreliable.
• Jason Smith may be worth a shot at training camp fodder, as Coach D’ has a great reputation of making linemen look good.

If San Diego does miss out on blue chippers Luke Joeckel, Eric Fisher or Lane Johnson, it’s not the end of the world for San Diego fans. Good coaching, new schemes, and new looks can fix holes.

Oct 13, 2012; Dallas, TX, USA; Oklahoma Sooner tackle Lane Johnson (69) in action against Texas Longhorns defensive end Alex Okafor (80) during the red river rivalry at the Cotton Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

With the NFL Draft a few days away, the generalized logic seems to be the chargers want and need a Left Tackle from this draft. How much impact does a Left Tackle have on a offense? Well, all I can tell you is that the last time we saw an elite Philip Rivers, and a damn close to elite Ryan Mathews was when Jared Gaither made his salary push in the final 5 games of the 2011 season:

Philip Rivers averaged for that 5 game period:
282.6 yards per game
2.2 TD pases per game
0.6 Interceptions per game
(Rivers would go over 100 Rating in 4 of the 5 games)

Ryan Mathews last 5 games of 2013:
18.4 carries per game
102.2 yards per game
0.6 TD’s per game

As for the Chargers offense, it averaged 31.4 points, 408.8 yards per game for that period. Is it a small sample size, yes, but it can be understated how much impact it can have on a QB like Rivers, who makes his living in the pocket, to have confidence in his offensive line.

Is Eric Fisher, or more specifically Lane Johnson, as good a player as Jared Gaither on a salary push? Probably not, but they are close and by the time their 2-3 season rolls around they should exceed Gaither at his best playing level.

So where to get a Left Tackle? The odds seems to be dwindling with Oakland, Arizona, Buffalo getting new QB’s in the last couple of weeks. The probability of a second QB to be taken in the top 10 took a major tumble and with that everything seems to point that all 3 elite Left Tackles will be taken by pick 7.

So the big question is, do you trade up for one of the elite 3 left tackles? What is the cost? Well for argument sake I used the draftcountdown.com trade chart:

For pick 4 – 1800 points: pick 11 1250 pts + pick 45 450 pts + 4th rounder 80 pts: 1780 pts
need to make up 20 points

For pick 6 – 1600 points: pick 11 1250 pts + pick 45 450 pts: 1700 pts
probably get pick 6 + 4th rounder

Seeing this prohibited cost and seeing 2 disgruntled veteran left tackles in Branden Albert and Rodger Saffold not wanting to move to the 2nd class citizen position of right tackle for their respective clubs, there seems to be a solution that works not only for the Chargers, but also for the Chiefs or Rams.

The Chargers only have about 7 million dollar in salary cap space, so creativity with the signing bonus will be required, and some salary reshuffling with Rivers and Weddle is also an option. But in my view I would get more bang for my buck to take the best player that drops to pick 11 (Ansah or one of the 2 elite guards would be my preference) and package my 2nd round draft pick and something around a 5-7 rounder for one of those veteran Left Tackles. Rather than packaging my first and second round draft pick to secure a left tackle.

What is your take my fellow readers? I appreciate your comments on this my first article for Bolt Beat.