Melvin Ingram

[Saracen]

It blew my mind when Ingram fell to 18. To get the best pass rusher in the draft at 18 is easily the best value in the first round.

[Merfinator]

Originally Posted by Saracen

It blew my mind when Ingram fell to 18. To get the best pass rusher in the draft at 18 is easily the best value in the first round.

Best OLB, maybe. Best pass rusher, no.

[Cheapargentina]

Originally Posted by Thunderstruck

Then why did the Texans take Mercilus for their 3-4 defense with Upshaw still on the board? I mean, I would think Wade Phillips knows a 3-4 OLB when he sees one.

Maybe because they have 2 starting caliber OLBs and he wanted the best pass rusher that can get after the qb now on passing downs.


I can see both arguments ppl are making and both are valid. We did not get the best pass rusher in the draft we got a playmaker. IMO its more important because we really lacked that in our front seven. How many times have we seen our linebackers fly into the backfield just to turn around and watch the RB Or qb (think rodgers last year) end up with a first down.

Watching his tape I realized he gets swallowed by tackles and lacks elite pass rushing skills. On the other hand he is a football player great instincts, great ball skills, extremely quick to sniff out plays, and what I think is elite closing speed. If he is used properly and develops into a slightly better pass rusher in 1-1 situations he is gonna be big for us. Will he ever be that elite outside rusher some ppl here think he is. I Don't believe so.

[Thunderstruck]

Originally Posted by Cheapargentina

Watching his tape I realized he gets swallowed by tackles and lacks elite pass rushing skills. On the other hand he is a football player great instincts, great ball skills, extremely quick to sniff out plays, and what I think is elite closing speed. If he is used properly and develops into a slightly better pass rusher in 1-1 situations he is gonna be big for us. Will he ever be that elite outside rusher some ppl here think he is. I Don't believe so.

Nobody else who scouted him thinks he "lacks elite pass rushing skills."

Literally the only concern I have with this kid is his injury history. None of the pass rushers in this draft consistently dominate 1v1 against tackles. They win the battle maybe 7-10 times a game. Maybe 3 or 4 times they'll hurry the passer, and if they're lucky they'll get a sack. If they're really dominating they'll get maybe a couple sacks and a couple other nice hits on the QB. The other 30-40 times it's a draw which is a win for the offensive player. I mean what do you guys expect?? You know that the offensive player wins the battle most of the time, and the reason I know you guys know this is because all Clary has to do is get beat once or twice in a game and CMB is ready to have him burned at the stake. There are offensive linemen in this league who go entire seasons giving up 1 or 2 sacks.

You might be able to make a case that Mercilus is a better edge rusher, but pass rushing from the edge isn't the end-all and be-all of pass pressure. I think you guys are forgetting that there's the weak-side gap, but there are also five other gaps along the line of scrimmage, and unlike anyone we've had in years, Ingram can rush the passer through any of those gaps. What he gives up in pure edge-rushing ability he makes up with his ability to rush the interior gaps with his speed and leverage.

On the weak side his success is going to have a lot to do with how well the DE does at controlling the left tackle. The beauty of Ingram is that he doesn't have to be just a weak-side linebacker. You can literally move him anywhere. Shawne Merriman used to go entire games where he almost vanished because he was used almost exclusively from the edge and if he found himself in a match-up with a team that knew how to block him, he would be minimized.

A guy like Ingram is more difficult to minimize because you can't just say "he's the weak-side linebacker." It's why Steelers' linebackers are always such a bear-- because they blitz from everywhere, and they move guys around.

[SDchargersONLY]

Originally Posted by Thunderstruck

Nobody else who scouted him thinks he "lacks elite pass rushing skills."

Literally the only concern I have with this kid is his injury history. None of the pass rushers in this draft consistently dominate 1v1 against tackles. They win the battle maybe 7-10 times a game. The other 30-40 times it's a draw which is a win for the offensive player. I mean what do you guys expect?? You know that the offensive player wins the battle most of the time, and the reason I know you guys know this is because all Clary has to do is get beat once or twice in a game and CMB is ready to have him burned at the stake. There are offensive linemen in this league who go entire seasons giving up 1 or 2 sacks.

You might be able to make a case that Mercilus is a better edge rusher, but pass rushing from the edge isn't the end-all and be-all of pass pressure. I think you guys are forgetting that there's the weak-side gap, but there are also five other gaps along the line of scrimmage, and unlike anyone we've had in years, Ingram can rush the passer through any of those gaps. What he gives up in pure edge-rushing ability he makes up with his ability to rush the interior gaps with his speed and leverage.

On the weak side his success is going to have a lot to do with how well the DE does at controlling the left tackle. The beauty of Ingram is that he doesn't have to be just a weak-side linebacker. You can literally move him anywhere. Shawne Merriman used to go entire games where he almost vanished because he was used almost exclusively from the edge and if he found himself in a match-up with a team that knew how to block him, he would be minimized.

A guy like Ingram is more difficult to minimize because you can't just say "he's the weak-side linebacker." It's why Steelers' linebackers are always such a bear-- because they blitz from everywhere, and they move guys around.

well he has the size and arm length of a James harrison, hopefully he can play like him to (except for the personal foul's)

[Charger Dodger]

Originally Posted by Chargrfan

I dont understand how anyone can hate this pick when he was the TOP RANKED PASS RUSHER in the draft and we got him at #18.

This is gonna be the steal of the draft.

I'm calling it, this will be the best Chargers 1st rd draft selection since Merriman (thats right I'm saying he'll be better than pro bowlers like Castillo & Cro)

lol got to love the "I'm calling it" comments