SAN DIEGO – As we begin our preview of the safeties available in the 2012 NFL Draft, here’s a look at players the Chargers have drafted at the position.
Player: 
Position: FS
Drafted: 2007, second round (37th overall)
School: Utah
Career with Chargers: Weddle’s production during his first five NFL seasons make for a tidy upward line graph, with a steepened angle in 2011. The 5-foot-11, 200-pound ball hawk made a team-best seven interceptions last season despite limited opportunities as quarterbacks often threw away from him. Weddle also finished third on the team with 93 tackles, made his first Pro Bowl appearance and earned first-team All-Pro. Weddle has 64 starts, 413 tackles and 14 interceptions for the Chargers.
Player: Rodney Harrison
Position: SS
Drafted: 1994, fifth round (145th overall)
School: Western Illinois
Career with Chargers: Perhaps the most feared safety in team history, Harrison made the Pro Bowl twice and was All-Pro once in San Diego. In nine seasons as a Charger, Harrison made 759 tackles, 26 interceptions, 21.5 sacks, forced six fumbles and recovered four. Named Defensive Player of the Year by his teammates in 1996 and ’97, Harrison made 257 tackles and seven interceptions in those two seasons alone, and became the first player to score touchdowns on a fumble return, interception return and kickoff return in the same season. A special teams stud on the Chargers’ 1994 AFC Championship team, Harrison is a member of the franchise’s 50th-Anniversary All-Time Team.
Player: Stanley Richard
Position: FS
Drafted: 1991, first round (9th overall)
School: Texas
Career with Chargers: Known as “The Sheriff,” Richard was San Diego’s starting free safety during the franchise’s only Super Bowl appearance. Richard also was second on the team in tackles to Junior Seau between 1991-94. The highest ever overall draft selection for a Chargers safety, Richard started 60 regular-season games for San Diego before signing with Washington as a free agent in ’95. He made 294 tackles and 10 interceptions for the Bolts.
| OTHER DRAFTED SAFETIES | ||||
| Year | Player | Position | Round Drafted | School |
| 2010 | | SS | 4th (110 overall) | Kansas |
| 2009 | Kevin Ellison | S | 6th (189) | USC |
| 2003 | Terrence Kiel | S | 2nd (62) | Texas A&M |
| Hanik Milligan | FS | 6th (161) | Oregon | |
| 2001 | Robert Carswell | FS | 7th (244) | Clemson |
| 2000 | Rogers Beckett | S | 2nd (43) | Marshall |
| 1993 | Eric Castle | FS | 6th (161) | Oregon |
| 1992 | James Fuller | S | 8th (201) | Portland State |
| 1991 | Floyd Fields | S | 5th (127) | Arizona State |
| 1988 | Wendell Phillips | S | 12th (324) | North Alabama |
| 1986 | Matt Johnson | S | 5th (133) | USC |
| Jeff Sprowls | S | 12th (320) | BYU | |
| Mike Travis | S | 12th (333) | Georgia Tech | |
| 1985 | Jeff Dale | S | 2nd (55) | LSU |
| 1983 | Billy Blalock | S | 12th (314) | Tennessee Tech |
| 1982 | Andre Young | S | 10th (273) | Louisiana Tech |
| Anthony Watson | S | 11th (299) | New Mexico | |
| 1980 | Bob Gregor | S | 4th (108) | Washington State |
| 1979 | Al Green | S | 10th (269) | LSU |
| Frank Duncan | S | 12th (321) | San Francisco State | |
| 1977 | Pete Shaw | S | 6th (152) | Northwestern |
| 1976 | Ron Lee | S | 12th (322) | Oregon |
| 1974 | Danny Colbert | S | 9th (210) | Tulsa |
| 1971 | Bryant Salter | S | 5th (115) | Pittsburgh |
| 1970 | Chris Fletcher | S | 9th (223) | Temple |
| 1968 | Jim Hill | S | 1st (18) | Texas A&M |
| 1966 | Joe Beauchamp | S | 6th (53) | Iowa State |
| 1964 | Willie Brown | S | 6th (48) | USC |
| Kenny Graham | S | 13th (104) | Washington State | |
