Rookie O-linemen like their fit

Sunday, May 08, 2005
By Tom Shanahan, Chargers.com

From the outside looking in, a rookie offensive lineman might not consider the Chargers the ideal opportunity.

The Bolts return all five starters up front from last year’s AFC West championship team. In addition, tackle Courtney VanBuren,  a starter in 2003, returns from a season-ending injury suffered in the 2004 preseason.

But this is how the Chargers’ three drafted offensive linemen say they view their future in San Diego following three days of Rookie Orientation Camp that finished Sunday at Chargers Park:

Wesley Britt (6-8, 314), left tackle from Alabama taken in the fifth round: “This is a good place for me. I was surprised how helpful the older players have been. I have friends playing for other teams who say it’s real competitive and the veterans try to lead you astray. But here it’s a family atmosphere. Courtney was showing me steps and a lot of different things.”

Wes Sims (6-4, 317), a left tackle from Oklahoma projected as an NFL guard taken in the sixth round: “This is a good place for me to be. I’ve got two good players in front of me (starting guards Mike Goff and Toniu Fonoti) and I can learn from them.”

Scott Mruczkowski (6-5, 318), center from Bowling Green State taken in the seventh round: “I’ve got a chance to learn from a good center (Nick Hardwick) that I knew before I came here. He played with my brother at Purdue. He’s a starter, and I can learn a lot about how he plays.”

This year the Chargers had the luxury of drafting offensive linemen for depth. All three players were four-year starters after redshirting their first year on campus.

“We were talking about that,” Sims said. “It’s funny to be the low man on the totem poll after being on top for so long. But we know you have to come in here and earn everything.”

Britt was an All-Southeastern Conference first-team pick. He broke his right fibula in the Senior Bowl, which prevented him from working out at the NFL Combine. He believes the injury knocked him down from the first day of the draft to the second day’s last four rounds.

“I’ve got to learn the speed of the game,” Britt said. “As a dominant offensive tackle in college, I could hit somebody and knock them down with my hands. The problem with these guys (NFL defensive linemen) is you’ve got to hit them and keep going. You’ve got to keep replacing your hands and moving your feet.”

Sims was honorable mention on the All-Big 12 team, which was a slight in the opinion of at least one Big 12 defensive lineman. Adell Duckett is a defensive end from Texas Tech that was also at the Chargers’ rookie camp as an undrafted free agent.

“I didn’t know his face, but I knew his name when I got here,” Duckett said. “He’s strong. I remember wrestling with him a lot. He was right up there with Jamal Brown as two of the best linemen in the Big 12.”

Brown, the Sooners’ right tackle, was the 13th pick of the draft by the New Orleans Saints. Sims, the left tackle, knew he was projected as a guard in the NFL before the Chargers called his name.

“What they’ve said to me is I was a pretty good tackle, but if I moved inside I could really be a good pass blocker,” Sims said. “I’ve always been known for being a better run blocker.”

Mruczkowski was a All-Mid-American Conference second-team pick.  His brother, Gene, already wears two Super Bowl rings as a backup center/guard entering his third season with the New England Patriots.

“I never really started playing football until my junior year because I was into other sports like baseball and track,” Scott said. “I was really a raw player coming out of high school, but I began to love the game and I caught on quickly.”

Scott said a groin injury prevented him from working out at the NFL Combine and he feels that knocked him down to the lower rounds in the draft.

“I expected to go in the fourth or fifth round, but I’m 100 percent now,” he said. “Most (NFL evaluations) say my best attribute is my pass blocking.”

EVALUATION TIME

Chargers Head Coach Marty Schottenheimer and his staff went from the practice field to their offices upstairs to begin evaluating the six draft picks, 19 free agents and 12 tryout free agents they put through five practices in three days.

The players spent most of their time with position coaches. Schottenheimer would move from station to station to study players in each of the practices.

“You’re looking to see if they understand what we’re teaching them,” Schottenheimer said. “The next thing you’re looking for: if they understand it is, are they physically capable of doing what needs to be done? If those things are positive then you look to see if they can sustain it, and if they do then you know you’ve got a chance to get that player to be the best he can be.”

The next on-field work begins with Offseason Coaching Sessions that start May 16 and continue through the end of June. Mini Camp, which will be open to the public, is June 10-12 at Chargers Park.

Four of the six draft picks that attended Rookie Orientation Camp will return for the start of OCS on May 16: second-round wide receiver Vincent Jackson along with Britt, Sims and Mruczkowksi. Britt graduated with a degree in business and spent last season in graduate school.

Fourth-round pick Darren Sproles can’t arrive until after he takes his last final on May 20. First-round pick Luis Castillo, the 28th pick overall, can’t arrive until the second day of Mini Camp on June 11 when he graduates with a degree in economics.

“I wish I could be here because I’ll miss a lot of time with these guys on the field,” Castillo said. “The biggest thing for me is stay motivated.”

LEARNING CURVE

• One of the evaluations Schottenheimer and his assistants will be making is whether to work Castillo as an end or a nose tackle. Castillo said he worked at defensive end exclusively in the first three practices before seeing some time at nose tackle.
• Sproles said he was surprised to hear so much talk about his quickness at rookie camp. “But I’m grateful,” he said.
• Sims on his Oklahoma teams playing against Sproles: “He gave us fits. I’m glad he’s on my team now. The last couple of days he showed everybody why he was so hard to tackle. He’s so quick and agile. He’s going to be a great player.”
• Jackson said he needs to become more of technician now that he’s moving up from Division I-AA college football to the NFL: “I need to be more fundamentally sound about where I line up on the field, doing things with my hands, using the sidelines and using my body better. (Receivers) Coach (James) Lofton did a good job of explaining what you have to learn.”