Guys, here is his scouting report from NFLDraftScout.com (I can't copy/paste it cuz it's copyrighted so I had to use paint). Enjoy.
1. But Hester WOULD have been available later. Beathard reached for guys that he didn't have to take in higher rounds to get. Was anyone else going to take Mikhael Ricks? No. Beathard could have gotten him in the 4th. Sure, this move isn't THAT bad, but it's the same strategy - move up to get a guy you don't have to move up to get. 2. The problem with Hester is that he's a tweener. Not fast enough to be a starting tailback, not big and strong enough to be a legit fullback. What is he? He can't block at all, so he's no replacement for Lorenzo Neal. How does he fit in? 3. While we didn't trade away a first rounder, we not only end up without a 2nd and 4th this year, but we have no 2nd next year, either! With A.J.'s flat our refusal to sign impact free agents that's gonna hurt as players come into the last year of their contracts. 4. I never said this team is going to fall apart right away, but as LT gets less productive (that has already started), and as contracts come up, unless A.J. changes his free agent strategy this team WILL decline by 2010. Not to a losing record, but to 9-7 or 10-6 and out of the playoffs in the first round. And then after that it's just a slow ride down to where this team was in the late 80's and late 90's. Been there, done that - I don't want to see it again until this team FINALLY wins a Super Bowl. I've been following Chargers football for 30 years and I'm getting sick of all the wasted potential and blown opportunities -and constant failure to win when it REALLY counts. A.J. is not that much smarter than every other GM. He can very easily have a couple bad drafts in a row that drop this team down to the 9-7 level. I'm concerned that this may be the first draft that he blows, and if he doesn't have a full compliment of high round draft picks next year he can't make up for it.
How do you think that LSU would do against an NFL team? It's one thing to do it against smaller, slower, less talented defenses, but a completely different thing to do it in the NFL. Read the "Negatives" section in the notes above on him. He may be one of those guys that just doesn't translate well to the NFL. Then again, he may make a sizeable contribution - but even if he does the Chargers still need a legit tailback to back up LT, and Hester aint it. So now what? Are they going to carry 5 backs? LT, Pinnock, Sproles, Hester, and LT's backup? That would mean that the Chargers still need to spend another pick on a running back! I just don't like the round and the price paid for Hester.
Yes, because a 2nd round pick would have had a much more positive impact on our team than Chris Chambers. Get a clue. You draft geeks crack me up.
I never complained once about losing THIS year's #2 for a legitimate #1 WR like Chambers. What I am complaining about is overreaching and overpaying for a player that could have been taken later at a far smaller price. The Chargers results from 2009-2012 or so will be affected by the next 3 drafts. Unnecessarily losing next year's 2nd round pick is going to hurt.
Don't you get that we have retained more drafted players the last 4-5 years than any team in the league? Because of that, we have a wealth of young talent and only a few roster spots available. We don't need a bunch of young development guys to replace aging vets, because we have very few aging vets. What we need are a few impact players that can compliment our roster. AJ believed Hester is one of those guys, just as he believed last year that Weddle was one of those guys. I bet you were saying the same thing last year when AJ traded up for Weddle. We are going for a ring. A late 2nd next year is not going to help us until at least 2009 and probably 2010. As for Hester, AJ saw the guy he wanted and he pulled the trigger. Could the guy have been had a bit later? Maybe. But he would not have lasted until the 5th round. You end up playing Russian roulette. This was the guy AJ really wanted. So he made a bold, confident move to grab him. I don't see what the problem is. Hester is an AJ guy. He's a heady warrior/team leader who will give his all on offense and special teams, and he's a versatile performer who can catch, block, run and expand our offensive playbook.
More draft geek BS. Turner wasn't a great pick because of his value. He was a great pick because he's a great player. It doesn't matter if you give up a bit to get the guy you want. If we had traded a 2nd and a 5th for Turner, would he have ceased being a great player? No, of course not.
leisure, you're touting a slow white boy? What the hell has gotten in to you? Has AJ made you see the light?
Maybe, maybe not - but he would have been there in the 4th, which the Chargers could have gotten for this year's 6th and next year's 3rd. A lot lower price to pay to get a role player who may or may not fit in the NFL.
Hester fits in the NFL. He runs hard, he doesn't fumble, he can block and catch... that's all you need from a running back.
So the Chargers could have traded a hypothetical 3rd next year for a hypothetical 4th this year to draft a hypothetical player. Of course what you fail to see is that you don't know when Hester would have really gone. My guess is that AJ has a better sense of when these guy s will go than you do. AJ looked at who was left on the board and he made his move to get his guy. If he gave up a bit to get him so what. Better to give up a bit too much and get the guy you want than get paralyzed by your value board and end up settling for a guy you don't like nearly as much who might be a better theoretical value.
Maybe I'm just older than many of you (maybe), and remember blown Chargers (and Cowboys) drafts from previous decades. I put no blind faith in ANY GM. Bobby Beathard built TWO Super Bowl Championship teams in Washington, and got the Bolts to the Super Bowl - and then became the worst draft day GM in history. No GM is perfect, and A.J. is no different. He hasn't even earned the benefit of the doubt that Beathard got. IF the Chargers actually win the Super Bowl, then I'll look at this thing differently. But I've been following the Chargers for 30 years and I am sick to death of watching this team blow opportunities to win Super Bowls (best team in the league from '79-'82, and best team in the league in '06, and arguably in '07 as wel - and they were damned competitive in '92 & '94.) I've seen this team come close several times, only to be followed up by a decade of garbage. The garbage time has ALWAYS been preceded by just one or two blown drafts. I don't want to see it again.
No, he CAN'T block. Did you watch the analysis? They showed that he CANNOT block AT ALL. At the combine a guy going at half speed juked him out of his jock - not once, but multiple times. He is NOT a blocking back. He can run north/south and he can catch and he's tough. That's good, but the defenses in the NFL are a lot faster and tougher than what he's used to facing.
The problem is that you are assuming we haven't seen him play. Some of us watch more college football in two days than most do the entire CFB season. I love the way AJ drafts but if he makes a pick which I think sucks (and he hasn't thus far) I will call him out for it. The window of opportunity to win a superbowl is now (although it probably won't happen with LT and Igor :icon_twisted: ). Hester will step in right away and look like an 8 year veteran on special teams and as a situational runner and a blocker in max protection. He will be lined up at FB and catch passes and be a weapon.
Blocking is a skill usually worked on in the NFL, I know for a fact Pinnock and Turner couldn't block to save their asses when they got in, but they improved over time. We're almost up in the 5th
Look, I hope he does play as well for the Chargers as he did in college. But the NFL is a much different thing than college football. The players are bigger and faster - a lot bigger and faster - and they are the best of the best. I can see Hester not fitting in anywhere to make a big impact. Then again he may very well prove me wrong (not necessarily all that hard to do). But I strongly believe that A.J. overpaid to get him and that price is going to hurt the team in 2 or 3 years. If Hester isn't a guy that's going to help get this team to the Super Bowl then it wasn't worth it. If the Chargers DO make it to the Super Bowl, and Hester HAS made significant contributions to getting there, then I'm wrong and A.J. (and all of you) were right, and it was worth the price to get him. We'll know next January, won't we?
