Chargers Defense Gets More Bulk

San Diego Added Two More Defensive Players On Friday

On Thursday, the Chargers used their first round draft pick on pass rush specialist Melvin Ingram. He's going to play linebacker. There are two more levels of the defense, the line and the secondary.

On Friday, the Chargers added a player at each area.

In the 2nd round they grabbed Connecticut defensive lineman Kendall Reyes. He was ranked by Pro Football Weekly as the 29th-best player in the Draft. The Chargers got him with the 49th pick.

Reyes was a 3-year starter at UConn, playing both in the interior line and on the end. The Bolts see him as an end in the NFL. Reyes only had 11.5 career sacks, but he constantly faced double-teams and was effective in stopping running backs behind the line of scrimmage. The Bolts saw him at the Senior Bowl, where Reyes showed off some of his physical gifts.

"He's got great quickness, great burst off the ball," said Chargers Director of Player Personnel Jimmy Raye. "His athleticism really jumped out at us on tape."

Speaking of jumping, Reyes is a 6'4", 300-pound man who can do a backflip. I'm not joking. Check out the video!

In the 3rd round, the Chargers made a trade, sending their 3rd and 6th round picks to the Dolphins to move up 5 spots and take LSU strong safety Brandon Taylor. He went to Baton Rouge as a cornerback, but switched to safety because the other corners on the field (Patrick Peterson and Morris Claiborne) turned out to be top-10 NFL Draft picks.

Taylor says he likes to hit people, but needs to work on the angles he takes on ball carriers. One thing that won't be an issue is his desire to learn.

"Our coaches thought he had great production and great awareness," said head coach Norv Turner. "He's the leader of a team that was driven by its defense."

Taylor is the latest to wear the number 18 at LSU. Over the last decade, that number has been passed down to players who show the ability \to overcome adversity and inspire their team-mates. Current Chargers running back Jacob Hester also wore the 18 in Death Valley.

The one common theme of their three picks so far is, all were productive players in power conferences. General Manager A.J. Smith says he doesn't feel any extra pressure to hit a home run with his picks this season, but so far he's avoided the projects like Larry English that haven't panned out.

San Diego has three more picks on Saturday. Although they've already added talent and depth to their defense, both Raye and Turner said they're not against going defense again.

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