Miami’s Building Blockers Are Two the Chargers Coveted
If only these offensive linemen really had remained anonymous.
But no, sometime during ABC’s nationally televised AFC wild-card game Saturday between the Dolphins and the Chiefs, attention is going to focus on Miami’s starting tackle, Richmond Webb, and starting guard, Keith Sims.
Plenty of nice things are going to be said about Webb, who is the only tackle ever to be selected to play in the Pro Bowl in his rookie season.
And Sims is considered by some to be a better player than Webb.
They line up next to each other--the firm of Sims & Webb--and, barring injuries, will probably do so for the next decade: A constant reminder to Charger fans of what might have been.
General Manager Bobby Beathard liked Webb and really wanted Sims, but when it came time to exercise the fifth pick in Round 1 of last year’s draft, he chose linebacker Junior Seau.
“I thought if we couldn’t get Junior there we could possibly trade the fifth pick to Seattle and get two firsts or a first and second and get Webb and Sims,” Beathard said. “We tried everything to get a second-round pick because we wanted Sims. It was even to the point of trading this year’s No. 1, but we completely struck out. I thought Sims was a No. 1.”
Beathard said the Chargers had Sims, a 6-2, 305-pounder from Iowa State, rated as the top offensive lineman in the draft. He said Webb was rated second, but because he was a tackle, Beathard said, he would have been selected ahead of Sims.
“We couldn’t pass Junior up,” Beathard said. “If Junior hadn’t been there and we couldn’t move back in the first round, we would have picked Richmond Webb as quickly as we grabbed Junior.
“It’s hard to argue now against taking Webb with everything he’s done this year. It’s difficult, as we know, to find a left tackle. They’re a rare breed. . . . But we think Junior is going to be a good one.”
Webb, a 6-6, 298-pounder from Texas A&M;, was assigned the task from day one of protecting Dan Marino’s blind side. As testimony to Webb’s ability to learn on the job, Marino is not only still standing, but this season Marino was sacked less than any other starter in the league.
“I thought I was going to San Diego,” Webb said. “That’s where everybody had me going.”
But the Chargers went with Seau, who has been slow in developing. The Dolphins took Webb with the ninth pick in Round 1 and Sims with the 11th selection in Round 2.
The Chargers finished 6-10; the Dolphins were 12-4.
“A big difference,” Webb said.
The Chargers went with Eric Floyd, Leo Goeas and Joel Patten at left tackle this past season and continue to list it as one of their priority needs.
“He wanted Junior Seau and both of those guys,” Miami Coach Don Shula said. “That’s the Bobby I know.
“I know he would have taken Webb, but when they made the decision on Seau, he went after Sims. I know he was trying to figure out how to get Sims, and we heard he was trying to trade, but we were happy nobody took his offer.”
Beathard called both Sims and Shula shortly after the draft. He told Sims how hard he had worked to make a deal for him, and he told Shula the Dolphins had grabbed a gem.
“I don’t second-guess our decision to take Junior at all,” Beathard said. “And I’m not saying that because I took Junior. There have been years when we have made the wrong pick and I’ve said it.
“But I think Junior is going to be a great one. When we made our selection, we weren’t just looking at one year. We selected the one we thought would have the greatest impact over their whole career. If we had to do it all over again, we’d do the same thing.”
Charger Notes
The Chargers will pick either eighth or ninth in this spring’s draft; the order will be decided by a coin flip with Green Bay. . . . GM Bobby Beathard says the team will have 14 selections in this year’s draft. In addition to its own picks, the team will have additional picks in the second (trade of Gary Anderson), seventh (trade of Jamie Holland), 10th (trade of Keith English) and 11th rounds (trade of Napoleon McCallum).
They have no selection in the third round (last year’s deal to get quarterback John Friesz) and the eighth round (deal for Mike Zandofsky). . . . Beathard said he also met with quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver and assured him that he had the front office’s support. It’s been reported that Beathard and team owner Alex Spanos favor Friesz over Tolliver. “There have been things in the paper, and while those things are accurate, I wanted Billy to know that we weren’t giving up on him,” Beathard said. “I think Dan (Henning) and I are in agreement that it’s in the best interests of the team to develop two young quarterbacks.”