Everyone seems to love the San Diego Chargers selection of Wisconsin Badgers Running Back Melvin Gordon, especially the team itself. Obviously.
Management traded up to go get the electric, record-setting back, showing you just how high they were on him. However, the rest of their draft was lackluster. Denzel Perryman had a first round grade, so the Chargers found great value there. His selection by San Diego also gave us perhaps the dumbest commentator moment of the entire NFL Draft.
When Perryman was picked NFL Network’s Mike Mayock said “all I know is; he’s a football player.”
#Analysis
And Mayock didn’t say it as if all he knew about Perryman was that he plays football; quite the opposite. He said it with authority. Mayock obviously knows a lot about all of these guys, but instead he choose to say something pointlessly vanilla. Therefore, the statement is even dumber.
Perryman could have gone in the first round, if GMs still valued Inside Linebackers these days. However, they don’t. Instead Outside Linebackers are over-valued due to the emphasis on having extra pass rushers lining up on the exterior.
Perryman has some Wisconsin allure too. He’s been compared to former Badgers and San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland, who retired young. So we like Borland and Melvin Gordon, but as for the other three picks?
Meh.
Still no wide receivers for Phillip Rivers to work with. He can’t do it all himself. He’s not Superman. He may be Superman when it comes to procreating, but on the field he still needs more weapons. His Schrager’s and Klatt’s Chargers grade.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with Fox Sports Digital. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He also appears regularly on numerous sports talk radio stations all across the country.
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