SAN DIEGO -- A wrap-up of the San Diego Chargers' draft. Click here for a full list of San Diego's draftees.
Best move: The Chargers moved up seven spots in the second round to grab Georgia Tech pass-rusher Jeremiah Attaochu at No. 50. A good athlete with natural pass-rush skills, Attaochu immediately upgrades San Diego’s defense at a position of need. He will get good mentoring and skill development from veterans like Dwight Freeney and Jarret Johnson. And similar to Bruce Irvin two years ago for Seattle, Attaochu can be successful early as a rookie situational pass-rusher in a limited role.
Riskiest move: The Chargers bucked the NFL trend of drafting bigger cornerbacks by selecting TCU's Jason Verrett in the first round. At 5-foot-9 and 189 pounds, Verrett checks all of the boxes in terms of toughness, speed, football awareness and ball hawking skills. But there will be questions about whether Verrett can play on the perimeter against bigger receivers in the NFL. Verrett is still rehabbing from shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum and could miss the beginning of training camp. So how much Verrett can contribute at the beginning of the regular season remains a question mark. However, he showed durability in college, playing in 37 games in three seasons for the Horned Frogs.
Most surprising move: One of the team’s most obvious needs heading into this year’s draft, the Chargers passed on more well-known defensive linemen like Notre Dame’s Louis Nix III and Penn State’s DaQuan Jones in earlier rounds to select Arkansas State product Ryan Carrethers. At 6-2 and 330 pounds, Carrethers is a workout warrior. He benched 225 pounds 36 times at his pro day, squats 700 pounds and can power clean 400 pounds. He finished second on the team in 2013 with an impressive 93 tackles, including eight tackles for a loss. Carrethers also totaled four sacks and two blocked kicks. He’ll compete with Sean Lissemore for the starting nose tackle job on San Diego’s defense. "He’s a powerful, stout player inside," Chargers general manager Tom Telesco said. "He also has some uncommon production for a nose tackle. He had a lot of tackles, TFL’s [tackles for loss] and sacks at Arkansas State. He really played well against the bigger schools."
File it away: The selection of Notre Dame offensive lineman Chris Watt in the third round fills a need for more depth at interior offensive line. A three-year starter at left guard, Watt is considered a versatile performer who could also be trained to play center by offensive line coach Joe D’Alessandris. Watt provides some insurance for the Chargers in dealing with Jeromey Clary. The 30-year-old starting right guard is to make $4.55 million in nonguaranteed, total compensation in 2014. The Chargers have already asked receiver Eddie Royal, Johnson and Freeney to take pay cuts this year. Clary is highly thought of at Chargers Park, but if Telesco asks the Kansas State product to take a pay cut and he balks, the Chargers potentially could have an answer at right guard in Watt.