"Prince William and Kate were on the clock, but the NFL, considering them a mere distraction, as much a royal pain as Minnesota judges, defiantly went ahead with the prime time first round of its draft, anyway. Hard to say which event provided the better sleep meds. There was no John Elway in this thing. No superstar or projected superstar. No drama. No sexy entertainment. Of course, all we cared about around these parts - the closest thing we've ever had to royalty was King Stahlman - was what Chargers General Manager A.J. Smith had brewing on his mind in the war room. Depending on what happened in the 17 picks before his turn (moving up this year didn't seem wise or likely), he probably was going to go defense. End? Outside linebacker? To win in this league, you must do two things: Protect the quarterback and get to him. The current state surrounding the litigious NFL and its players probably worked in the Chargers' favor Thursday night. Teams cannot trade players, so veteran quarterbacks such as Carson Palmer, Kevin Kolb and Donovan McNabb, who will be moving once the labor thing is settled, were frozen. As a result, four collegiate quarterbacks went to teams desperate for QBs before the Chargers picked at 18. And when their time came, Smith chose Corey Liuget, a junior defensive end out of Illinois I wouldn't know if he were living in my home. Not that it means anything. One thing matters: Can this kid play football? If he can, I don't care if he's 6-2, 305 pounds, which he is, or 5-11, 350, which he isn't. I don't care about his vertical leap or standing broad jump or 40 times. I don't care if he's been more tackle than end, more inside pass rusher than outside. I don't care what Mel Kiper or Mike Mayock have to say. Can he play football? Can he make an impact on this defense, which needs impact? We aren't going to know that until he puts the pads on with the adults. From the sound of things, he doesn't look the part of a lazy slob who's going to get knocked around, so that's a good thing. The Chargers are in a division with Kansas City and Oakland, last year's top two rushing teams, so maybe he can help slow the run. Maybe he can bother enough people and penetrate to open things up for outside linebackers. Liuget is said to possess great strength, motor and ambition, and if he can help, he's in the right place." Read more: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/apr/28/forget-all-the-blather-can-the-new-kid-play/
