Shawne Merriman Pumped About Larry English, Says 'Let's Bring the Heat'

On Saturday, around 6:30 PM ET, commissioner Roger Goodell made his way to the podium at Radio City Music Hall and announced that, with the 16th pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, the San Diego Chargers had selected Larry English, defensive end, out of Northern Illinios.

The pick was immediately met with skepticism; in the weeks leading up to the biggest offseason event on the NFL calendar, most mock drafts had the Chargers taking a running back. Georgia's Knowshon Moreno would have been an obvious choice, but the Broncos' impetuousness took him off the board at No. 12. Which meant that San Diego would have to settle on the second-best back on their board (assuming Moreno was first), or, perhaps, they had every intention of bolstering the defense all along.

Because of his small-school pedigree, English wasn't well known to most fans and media, but that doesn't mean Chargers general manager A.J. Smith was just throwing darts at a wall of names before settling on English. In fact, Smith has a solid track record of using the draft to stock the roster with quality players.

In 2007, San Diego traded into the second round to take safety Eric Weddle; he started every game last season. The year before, the Chargers took a chance on cornerback Antonio Cromartie -- who missed his final college season with a knee injury -- at No. 19; he had 10 interceptions in 2007. A round later, they selected Marcus McNeill; he started every game at left tackle as a rookie.

So while English didn't address an immediate need (along with running back, offensive line and inside linebacker would've qualified) Smith's philosophy -- that you can never have too many legit pass rushers -- played apart in the selection.

"We were in a nice spot," said Smith. "We could have gone either way [with the No. 16 pick]. We had five or six guys – offense, defense; we decided to go defense. Unless we shore up the defense we're not going to go where we want to go."

Adding English also provides insurance in case Shawne Merriman isn't completely recovered from a knee injury that forced him to miss all but one game of the 2008 season. (Or, less likely, Shaun Phillips avoiding battery citations.)

Worst case: Merriman, Phillips and English all see time next season. The Steelers rotated five linebackers in their 3-4 scheme and it was one of the best unit's in the league. There are bigger problems than having too many playmakers on the roster. Merriman, via his Twitter machine, agreed.

On Saturday night he offered this: "Love our draft choice let's bring the heat." And then Merriman dropped a few quarters into the pitching machine and got adequately prepared for the 2009 season.