Chargers Happy With Draft, but Not Finished Rebuilding

Worst pun of the draft:

The Chargers picked Notre Dame linebacker Cedric Figaro in the sixth round Monday to fill an aria of need.

Actually, the Chargers figure Figaro can help them at inside linebacker even though he played outside with the Fighting Irish.

“Off the field I keep my emotions bottled up,” Figaro said after the Chargers began the second and final day of the 1988 NFL draft by making him the 152nd player selected.

“On the field, I let the bottle open.”

Figaro was one of five players chosen by the Chargers on Day 2. The highlight of their draft was Sunday when they plucked Tennessee wide receiver Anthony Miller with the 15th pick of the first round.

The other second-day players taken by the Chargers were Tennessee offensive tackle Joey Howard in the ninth round, Pittsburgh center Ed Miller and Arizona defensive end George Hinkle in the 11th round and North Alabama safety Wendell Phillips in the 12th and final round.

Yet the work, according to Steve Ortmayer, has just begun.

“I don’t think there’s a position on this team that we can’t upgrade between and now the start of the season (Sept. 4 at the Raiders),” said Ortmayer, Charger director of football operations.

But the additions of speed wide receivers Miller and third-rounder Quinn Early from Iowa have already changed the way teams will have to defend against Charger running back Gary Anderson.

Last year, opponents knew Anderson was the only Charger who could, to use Coach Al Saunders’ words, “put a vertical stretch on the defense.” It didn’t matter where Anderson lined up--inside or outside.

Now Saunders plans to utilize Miller and Early on opposite ends of the field. Anderson will have the opportunity to be a combination runner-receiver in the team’s one-back set. And Lionel James, an experiment at wide receiver last year, will return to the backfield on passing downs as an extra receiver.

The odd man out will apparently be veteran starter Wes Chandler. “Wes will have to battle for a job,” Saunders said.

Saunders said the Chargers are still looking for one running back to fill the role of a player who could carry the ball 20-25 times a game. And he said that back could be Anderson, Tim Spencer, Curtis Adams or even Barry Redden, a flop last year after arriving in a trade from the Rams.

But the point Saunders and Ortmayer will repeat until they are Charger blue in the face is how much the mere presence of the two new wide receivers will help the running game that finished second-to-last in NFL rushing last year.

“Those two speed guys have made any back, I don’t care who it is, more effective,” Ortmayer said. “People are not going to be able to sit on you at 20 yards and play a real tough front on you.”

That is also Ortmayer’s way of defending the Chargers’ failure to draft a running back even though they had identified that position as an area of need before the draft.

Tune in early next month when the soap opera continues. That’s when the quarterbacks come to town for a special camp that will mark the official beginning of the search to replace Dan Fouts. Fouts retired last month. His air-apparent is former Steeler Mark Malone.

Part of the reason the Chargers continued stocking up on large offensive linemen in the draft Monday was their desire to find more bodies to protect whomever Fouts’ successor becomes.

Howard, the ninth-rounder, is a former defensive end and tight end who will need a lot of work on his technique before he is polished enough to play offensive tackle in the NFL. Offensive line coach Jerry Wampfler also plans to monitor his weight training closely.

“He’s a projection,” Wampfler said Howard, who is 6-5 1/2 and 281 pounds.

Ed Miller is a pure center at 6-4 1/2, 260. He is a former high school wrestler and, like most of the second-day choices, a longshot to make the final 45-man roster.

Hinkle (6-6, 276) is more willing than good. He has told the Charger coaching staff he will be happy to try converting to offense if he can’t make the team as a pass rusher.

Phillips (6-0, 220) is the cousin of Cleveland tight end Ozzie Newsome. And, according to defensive coordinator Ron Lynn, is similar to Figaro (6-1 1/2, 250) in the “physical” way he approaches the game.

No sooner had the draft ended Monday afternoon than Charger coaches, including Saunders, were on the phone contacting players who hadn’t been drafted--players they might sign as free agents.

Ortmayer was pleased with the draft. But he is not satisfied either.

“Am I comfortable with this team?” he repeated. “I’d have to say no. I think now we have to address winning.”

CHARGER DRAFT, DAY 2

Where Picked Name School Pos. Hgt Wgt Rd. 6, 152th Cedric Figaro Notre Dame ILB 6-1 1/2 250 Rd. 9, 238th Joey Howard Tennessee OT 6-5 1/2 281 Rd. 11, 284th Ed Miller Pittsburgh C 6-4 1/2 260 Rd. 11, 291st George Hinkle Arizona DE 6-6 276 Rd. 12, 324th Wendell Phillips North Alabama S 6-0 220

Name Cedric Figaro Joey Howard Ed Miller George Hinkle Wendell Phillips

Name Comment Cedric Figaro Played outside for Irish. Has reputation as fierce hitter. Joey Howard Has to develop as offensive lineman. Ed Miller Opened holes for Craig (Ironhead) Heyward. George Hinkle Big farm kid from Missouri will get look as OL if he fails on defense. Wendell Phillips Coaches say he’s a “physical, fly-around-the-field guy.”