Chargers zero in on the weekend

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Tuesday, Apr 22, 2008
By Casey Pearce, Chargers.com

Chargers Assistant General Manager Buddy Nix is always one to rise early and work late, but in the days leading up to this weekend’s NFL Draft, Nix finds himself putting in even more hours at the office.

“This is what you work all year for,” Nix said. “If you’re going to rest, that’s next week.”

With the draft now just days away, Nix and the Chargers scouting and coaching staffs are putting the final touches on their preparations. The Bolts’ scouts from around the country gathered in San Diego last week. Starting last Monday, they began lengthy meetings to read reports on every player they’ve studied.

“We go through every position and every player,” Nix said. “Every scout that scouted him reads his report on him. The position coach gives his report, the coordinator gives his and the head coach has his say. It’s a detailed process.”

The group will conclude those meetings Wednesday and begin physically stacking their draft board on Thursday. The Chargers have small white magnets with the name of every draft-eligible player, and the names are arranged by the grades General Manager A.J. Smith, Nix and company have assigned the players.

“We put up a tentative deal Thursday night,” Nix said. “By that time, it’s pretty much done. Friday morning everybody comes in and looks at the board. Later on in the afternoon, some of us get together again. If there’s any slight tweaking done to it, that’s when it’s done.”

Nix is regularly asked what he thinks of this year’s crop of college talent, and his answer is similar from year to year. He believes all draft classes have good players, but some are stronger in certain areas than others.

“That’s certainly the case this year,” Nix said. “Some positions are really strong, but there aren’t many positions that are in between. They’re either really strong on they’re shallow in depth.”

Nix sees offensive line – particularly offensive tackle – as well as cornerback and running back as the strengths of this year’s class. Safety and wide receiver are positions that aren’t as deep in his opinion.

“Safety is weak because there’s not many,” Nix said. “Wide outs are really deep but there’s not a great player at this point. I think that the best article that I’ve ever seen about scouting was done by somebody where they graded everybody that was drafted three years ago. That’s when you really grade your draft class, so we may look back a couple years from now and feel different about this group, but that’s how I feel about it going in.”

Whatever directions the Chargers choose to go this weekend, they can only hope they’ll be as fortunate as they have been in recent years when it comes to the draft. Of the 22 players slated to start for the Bolts in 2008, 16 were drafted by the Chargers. Another two – Antonio Gates and Kris Dielman – were signed by the team as undrafted rookie free agents. Each of the team’s four drafts prior to 2007 has yielded at least one Pro Bowl player.

Nix believes that success has come because everyone in the organization is on the same page and is committed to improving the roster every year.

“I think we work well together and everybody is conscientious of what we’re trying to do,” Nix said. “Everybody in this league works hard. We’re certainly not any smarter. Things have fallen right for us.

“I think personnel success is broken down into three parts. You’ve got to have good scouts that pay attention to detail and work hard at their trade. Then you’ve got to have somebody that’s not afraid to pull the trigger, which A.J. does because he makes the final call. Then you’ve got to have a good coaching staff that can develop them once they get here. Plus we try to get guys that want to be good. They’re intelligent, they’re tough and they want to be successful at this level. If you get that, you’re going to hit on more than you miss.”

This year’s draft format is slightly changed. In the past, teams had 15 minutes to make their first-round selections and 10 for the second round. The NFL cut the first round time back to 10 minutes per pick and the second round back to seven minutes. Nix doesn’t think the changes will have a big impact on how the Chargers proceed.

“I don’t think it affects us,” Nix said. “It may affect trades a little bit. Most trades happen when a team is ready to trade and then if a guy he wants to pick is there. That determines normally whether or not you’re going to do it. As far as us, we know whether or not we want to move, so it doesn’t take long. I think we’ll be ready no matter how they want to do it. We’ve been working all year to be ready for this weekend.”

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