FanHouse EricWeddle

On Saturday, around 6:30 PM ET, commissioner Roger Goodell made his way to the podium at Radio City Music Hall and announced that, with the 16th pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, the San Diego Chargers had selected Larry English, defensive end, out of Northern Illinios.

The pick was immediately met with skepticism; in the weeks leading up to the biggest offseason event on the NFL calendar, most mock drafts had the Chargers taking a running back. Georgia's Knowshon Moreno would have been an obvious choice, but the Broncos' impetuousness took him off the board at No. 12. Which meant that San Diego would have to settle on the second-best back on their board (assuming Moreno was first), or, perhaps, they had every intention of bolstering the defense all along.

During the third quarter of the Chargers/Steelers AFC divisional playoff game today, the Steelers picked up a loose ball and took it into the endzone for an apparent touchdown. Raise your hand if you knew it was coming back, despite the lack of a penalty.

Mine is raised. The rule is uniform across all levels of football.

On the play, Eric Weddle was engaged in a block on a punt to the Chargers. The punt ended up being a bit short of Chargers' returner, Darren Sproles. The football ended up hitting Weddle on the head. The Steelers then scooped up the ball, and ran it home.

The third quarter just wrapped up in Pittsburgh with the Steelers leading 21-10 and holding the ball on the one-foot line. The Chargers are lucky that there's still a chance for them to win this game. They took exactly one offensive snap in the quarter, an interception by Philip Rivers, while the Steelers ran 24 offensive plays.

If this had been any other third-year cornerback, I would've just dismissed it as silly talk. But when the Chargers' Antonio Cromartie says that he has impossibly big plans for the 2008 season, well, I believe him.

Cromartie is throwing around the number 15. You hear it and know what he must be referring to. Yet you must get clarification.

Antonio, you seriously think that's how many interceptions you can get in a single season? This season?

"That's a very serious statement," Cromartie said. "A very, very serious statement."

And you know what, I'm taking it very, very seriously. Cromartie pretty much forces you to do so after some of the things he did last season (see YouTubes fun above).

The thing is, the Chargers' could have one of the best secondaries in the AFC in a year or two. Second-year safety Eric Weddle may not look like much, but he's a player. And 2008 first-round pick, cornerback Antoine Cason has a chance to be the team's nickel back while he's groomed for the starting gig at some point in the future.

In other, less pick-erific news, there's the Steelers Ike Taylor. A fine cornerback in his own right, who also happens to have cement mitts for hands. From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

Ike Taylor has made six interceptions since becoming a starter in 2005. The Steelers cornerback said that total should be closer to 25.

"At least eight a year," Taylor said of how many interceptions he could have made the last three seasons.

Ike Taylor, the anti-Cromartie.

It wasn't very long ago that people were yelling for A.J. Smith to get fired (I may or may not have been one of those voices). After Marty Schottenheimer was canned/voluntarily left following a 14-win season, and his successor Norv Turner got off to a slow start in 2008, it was evident Smith had lost it.

Of course, there's a reason the fans and the media don't make NFL personnel decisions. San Diego ended up winning 11 games, the AFC West, and made it to the conference championship.

Smith is known for his ability to put together an NFL roster, and while most of us panned his decision to send a second-round pick to Miami for thought-to-be worthless Chris Chambers, he turned out to be a nice addition to the Chargers' wide receivers corps.

San Diego also traded up in the 2007 draft to grab safety Eric Weddle, and that also cost them some picks this year. Still, Smith understands that winning teams are built through the draft, and that's why he wouldn't mind re-acquiring some of the selections he lost over the last 12 months.

As we get ready for the Patriots-Giants Super Bowl, FanHouse is looking back at each team's 2007 first-round pick. Here's a look at the 31st pick in the draft, tight end Greg Olsen.


Who They Took: Greg Olsen, TE, Miami

Who Else They Were Rumored To Consider: G Justin Blalock, OL Aaron Sears, T Tony Ugoh

What We Said At The Time: "TE Greg Olsen runs a 4.5-forty and will create a lot of matchup problems."

What Olsen Did: When they used him, Olsen did what the Bears expected. He was too fast for linebackers and too big for defensive backs which resulted in 39 catches for 391 yards and two touchdowns. He was invisible for long stretches of the season, however. 26 of his catches came in five games and the Bears didn't look to him nearly enough over the course of the season. He and Desmond Clark both provided good production at tight end but too often they were ignored pieces in the offensive game plan. He didn't add anything as a blocker but that wasn't why the Bears selected him, it was to be an impact receiver and Olsen made good on that.

It's pretty much agreed upon that LSU's LaRon Landry is the best safety in the draft and there is a very good chance he could be a top-10 pick in two weeks. But after Landry, next on the list basically comes down to who you ask. Reggie Nelson and Brandon Meriweather are considered first-round picks, but like Landry, they play free safety. If you're looking for a strong safety, Utah's Eric Weddle -- who's not well known outside of Salt Lake -- could be the guy.

NFLDraftScout.com ranks Weddle as the second best strong safety behind Texas' Michael Griffin, and one of the things that makes him so valuable is his versatility:

In 2005, he started at safety but moved to cornerback near the end of the season and played the position so well he held Georgia Tech's Calvin Johnson to two catches for 19 yards in the Emerald Bowl.

For anybody -- safety, cornerback, super hero -- to hold Johnson to two catches is certainly worthy of recognition. And although we haven't heard much about him in the weeks leading up to the draft, both FOXSports.com and SportingNews.com have Weddle going in the second round (to the Chargers and Jaguars).