Defense-Minded Chargers Likely to Select Mims : NFL draft: Defensive end from Tennessee would bolster pass rush.
All signs point to the Chargers selecting a wide receiver in round one of the National Football League draft.
Forget it.
Coach Bobby Ross said he needs a pass rusher for the team’s new 4-3 defensive alignment, and by a process of elimination, that leaves Chris Mims, a 6-foot-4, 272-pound defensive end from the University of Tennessee, as the most likely candidate to be wearing a Charger uniform later today.
“That would be great,” said Mims, who grew up in Los Angeles. “I just want the draft to be over. I want my contract settled, and I want to be there on time and prove to everyone what I can do.”
The Chargers will have to hope that 22 teams pass on Mims before their number is called. However, they already have been approached by New Orleans, and if the Saints don’t find anyone to their liking with the 21st pick, the Chargers have been advised they can have it in exchange for San Diego’s second- and third-round choices.
“We get calls like that all the time,” General Manager Bobby Beathard said. “If something like that was offered and there were two players there that we liked, we might do it. If not, I’m not sure we would want to lose our second and third.”
Most draft prognosticators have had the Chargers selecting Jackson State wide receiver Jimmy Smith in Round 1, and Beathard has done nothing to dissuade their guesswork.
“I would think if we go offensive there would be a very good chance of that,” Beathard said. “We were just looking at him on videotape at the Senior Bowl practices and he runs away from every corner there. He has real good speed; he’s a good player.”
Smith, however, might also be available in Round 2, and who’s Beathard kidding? The Chargers are dedicated to helping themselves on defense in this draft, and they may very well wait until the third round before looking at wide receivers such as San Diego State’s Patrick Rowe.
Defense and more defense. They want a cornerback in Round 2. They want a defensive lineman in Round 1, but then so does just about everybody else. The Indianapolis Colts, by Beathard’s evaluation, are expected to begin today’s proceedings with the selection of two defensive linemen: Washington’s Steve Emtman and Pittsburgh’s Sean Gilbert.
Beathard said that he also expects Clemson defensive tackle Chester McGlockton, South Carolina State defensive end Robert Porcher and Ohio State defensive end Alonzo Spellman to fall from the board before the Chargers make their selection.
Hello, Chris Mims.
“I don’t know about Mims,” said Beathard. “We would have to be convinced that Mims would be willing to do the things necessary to become a real good football player.”
The reviews on Mims have not been good in recent weeks. Mims dropped out of school, returned home to Los Angeles, and promptly injured his wrist in a fracas on the USC campus.
“There were like 20 to 30 guys who jumped me and my friend,” Mims said. “It was a jealousy thing; they thought I was a turncoat for leaving USC and going to school out of state.
“They about tore all the clothes off my friend. I ran away, jumped some fences and filed a report with the USC Police.”
The wrist injury prevented Mims from working out for the scouts at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, and then reports began circulating that he had gained weight and was out of shape.
“I’ve heard that, but I’m working out three times a week and running on a treadmill,” he said. “When the scouts drilled me they had me running backward and doing things I wasn’t used to doing. . . . At Tennessee I played only for half of the game. That was the coach’s philosophy; he wanted to keep fresh legs in the game.”
Some teams have downgraded Mims because he lacks upper body strength, but John Dunn, the Chargers’ strength and conditioning coach, said that Mims has expressed a willingness to hit the weight room.
“He’s fired up,” said Dunn. “We could have him ready by the opening of training camp.”
Mims said he didn’t have enough money to take the SAT tests after coming out of Dorsey High School in Los Angeles, and so he began a trip that would take him to four different junior colleges in the Los Angeles area.
“It was tough times; I saw a lot of drive-by-shootings,” Mims said. “When I heard a car rev up, I’d duck and take off.”
He chose Tennessee over USC in a calculated move to get away from his old neighborhood and friends, and while he had some troubles in Knoxville initially, he emerged as a big-time pass rusher for the Vols.
“I was out with some people my junior year and somebody was beating up this guy’s girlfriend and a guy reached into his pants for a gun,” Mims said. “I hit him and ran. I got in trouble, but I was found not guilty. Then on the fourth of July I set off a skyrocket as a prank, and some people got upset.
“The NCAA was looking at us and so they used me as an example and I was suspended for one game. It wasn’t a big deal.”
Mims registered eight tackles for lost yardage last season and forced a pair of fumbles. While not much bigger than Chargers’ defensive end Burt Grossman, observers have suggested that he appears to have the body that will allow him to add weight.
“Hopefully, somebody will call my name in the draft,” Mims said, “and then I’ll prove to people I’m not as bad as everybody seems to think.”
The Chargers have 13 selections, and Beathard has indicated that he will try and trade next year’s No. 1 selection for additional picks in this year’s draft.
“I would hope so,” Beathard said, “But we just won’t give it away.”
Beathard gave Washington the Chargers’ first pick in this year’s draft for the chance to select guard Eric Moten with the 47th selection last year. Washington picks sixth in the Chargers’ place, and the Chargers select 23rd courtesy of Houston in exchange for defensive end Lee Williams.
“I think we have to be a better team defensively and give ourselves a couple of players who have the chance to be front-line players,” Beathard said. “We also have to come out of this draft deeper at some positions, like at tight end and along the offensive line.”