Shelton part of Smith’s plan
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Tuesday, Apr 29, 2008
By Casey Pearce, Chargers.com
A.J. Smith has regularly been known to call April “Liars Month” because NFL general managers rarely tell the truth in the weeks leading up to the draft.
On Saturday, however, Smith’s nose wasn’t growing as he frankly told reporters of his desire to add an offensive tackle. The opportunity never presented itself early in the draft, so Smith instead turned to a veteran.
The Bolts agreed to terms with former Miami Dolphin L.J. Shelton Tuesday, giving them a 10-year vet with experience at both right and left tackle.
“We were a little nervous just having two experienced players at the tackle position,” Smith said. “We were able to add a very talented corner Saturday in Cason and now we took a different route to shore up the tackle position. I feel a lot better about the situation now.”
The Chargers entered last weekend’s draft hoping to add depth at cornerback, running back and offensive tackle. They addressed the cornerback position with Cason and sixth-round selection Dejuan Tribble, and the selections of Jacob Hester and Marcus Thomas took care of the running backs.
In the seventh round, the Bolts added Texas A&M offensive tackle Corey Clark. Tony Pape, who spent last season on the Chargers’ practice squad, also is in the mix. While they’re excited about the potential of Clark and Pape, the Chargers were a little leery of entering the season with just two experienced tackles on their roster in starters Jeromey Clary and Marcus McNeill. Adding Shelton gives them a player with 135 professional games including 125 starts at three different positions – left and right tackle as well as right guard.
“We were thin at the position and were determined to find a talented player,” Smith said. “We believe we’ve addressed the need with L.J. Shelton.”
McNeill and Clary are penciled in as the starters heading into 2008. McNeill is a two-time Pro Bowler at left tackle and Clary started the final five games of the regular season plus all three playoff games at right tackle. Shelton will be added to the mix and will preliminarily be asked to provide depth.
“L.J. is going to come in here and compete,” Smith said. “We like our starters but, everyone knows how important we believe it is to have depth. L.J. will provide that.”
Shelton already has a tie to San Diego. His younger brother Tim just completed his freshman season with the San Diego State basketball team.
Courtesy of Miami Dolphins
When the value wasn’t there for the Chargers at offensive tackle over the weekend, Chargers General Manager A.J. Smith found other ways to add depth. The Bolts signed veteran L.J. Shelton Tuesday.
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