Charger Notebook : Quarterback Still Unsettled, and Other Needs Are Many

The Chargers damned new quarterback Mark Malone with the faintest of praise last Tuesday when, before the ink had dried on Malone’s new contract, they emphasized that they were still looking for quarterback help.

The latest name to surface last week was Washington’s second-string quarterback, Jay Schroeder. But it’s not likely that a deal will happen. At least not until late next week.

It’s not that the Chargers aren’t interested in Schroeder. It’s just that “they (the Redskins) have never told me he is available for trade,” said Steve Ortmayer, the Chargers’ director of football operations.

That could change by the end of the week as the April 24-25 NFL draft approaches. “They (the Redskins) like to do things toward the end when they get excited about the guys that are in the draft,” Ortmayer said.

The Redskins don’t pick until the end of the second round. “(Bobby Beathard, the Redskin general manager) will be really antsy,” Ortmayer said. “But I don’t know whether that will provoke him into trading a quarterback.”

The Raiders and Seattle also are reportedly interested in Schroeder.

But Ortmayer isn’t optimistic about the Chargers making a significant trade for a quarterback any time soon. “I don’t think there are any quarterbacks available, really,” he said. “If you wanted to pay a price, you could probably pry Marc Wilson out of the Raiders. And maybe if there’s a problem with Schroeder in Washington, you might get something done there.”

Last month, the Chargers brought in Steve Fuller, a former Bear backup, for a workout and a physical.

“We’re on hold with him right now,” Ortmayer said.

Fuller has a history of shoulder injuries. The Chargers probably won’t make a final decision on whether or not to offer him a contract until after the draft.

One place the Chargers won’t get immediate help at quarterback is in the draft itself. Most experts consider the 1988 draft talent to be average at best. Those same experts believe the talent at quarterback to be below average when compared with talent at the other positions.

Joel Buchsbaum of Pro Football Weekly, a nationally known draft expert, ranks Washington’s Chris Chandler as the best quarterback available. But in a mock draft, he doesn’t project Chandler going off the board until the 22nd pick of the second round (50th overall). On a best-athlete basis, Buchsbaum rates Chandler 49th among available players.

Buchsbaum rates San Diego State’s Todd Santos, the all-time major-college passing leader, as the sixth-best quarterback and 70th best athlete available. He projects Santos to Philadelphia on the first pick of the fourth round.

Mel Kiper Jr., a Baltimore draft expert, rates Santos fourth among available quarterbacks but doesn’t list him in his top 150 available athletes and doesn’t project him in the first six rounds of his mock draft.

The first quarterback picked in Kiper’s mock draft was Ohio State’s Tom Tupa in the second round (49th overall).

The Chargers need help everywhere except safety, outside linebacker, tight end and punter. The draft’s deepest area is wide receiver.

Their first pick will be No. 15 in the first round. They don’t have a second-round pick; they lost it to the Rams in the 1987 trade that brought running back Barry Redden. Redden gained 36 yards on 11 carries last year.

Early-line possibilities for the Chargers’ first pick include UCLA running back Gaston Green, Arizona State offensive lineman Randall McDaniel, Tennessee wide receiver Anthony Miller, Northwestern (La.) State fullback John Stephens and Indiana offensive tackle Eric Moore. Miller, Moore, McDaniel and Stephens all improved their draft status in postseason all-star games.

Don’t be surprised if the Chargers work a deal to obtain a second-round pick so they can secure Wendell Davis, an underrated LSU wide receiver.

Both Kiper and Buchsbaum sent Ohio State linebacker/defensive end Eric Kumerow to the Chargers--Kiper on the fourth round, Buchsbaum on the third. Kumerow is a former high school quarterback who grew into an oversized outside linebacker with the Buckeyes. He is a tall and rangy at 6-feet 6 1/2-inches and 250 pounds, and scouts have projected him as a 270-pound defensive end.

At a draft briefing last week, Ortmayer, unsolicited, brought up Davis’ name when illustrating a point: “On the subject of a guy who’s taken too high or not too high--it doesn’t make any difference in my mind if we take Wendell Davis of LSU with the first pick. He’s a guy that’s probably gonna go in the second round or maybe the third round. But it doesn’t make any difference if we take Wendell Davis with the first pick if Wendell Davis comes in here and catches 75 balls for 1,000 yards.

“Who gives a . . . if we took him with the fourth or the first if you get out of him what you need? When you’re right, it doesn’t make a difference.”