Cason, Hester appear as advertised

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Sunday, Aug 10, 2008
By Casey Pearce, Chargers.com

One of the first questions Chargers Head Coach Norv Turner was asked Saturday night following his team’s 31-17 win over the Dallas Cowboys had to do with one of his rookies.

“He’s what we expected him to be,” Turner said.

Turner was specifically speaking of running back Jacob Hester, but he could have been talking about either of his top two draft picks after the performances turned in by Hester and first-round pick Antoine Cason in the Bolts’ preseason opener.

The scouting report on Hester coming out of LSU was that he was a hard-nosed runner who excelled in short-yardage situations. Saturday night, the Bolts’ third-round pick carried 13 times for 49 yards and two touchdowns. His scores came on runs of one and two yards, respectively.

Cason’s book read that he was a smart, tough, physical tackler with outstanding ball skills. The former Arizona Wildcat finished the night as the Chargers’ leading tackler with seven stops. His biggest play of the night came when he recognized an alignment, jumped a slant route and knocked the ball away on a 3^rd-and-1 play to prevent a first down.

“It felt good,” Cason said. “There are some things I need to clean up, of course but I felt real good out there doing the assignments that were asked of me. What people expect of me, I want to back that up some more and keep coming out and doing those things.”

Hester had a “Welcome to the NFL” moment early in the game, which he believes helped him settle in and play his game.

“The very first guy I was blocking was Zach Thomas,” Hester said. “That guy has been to so many Pro Bowls. It felt good. Once you do that, nothing really worries you anymore. You’re taking on a Pro Bowler like that. It was a good experience.”

Another adjective regularly to use Hester is that he’s a “gamer.” While he’s pleased his coaches in practice, the bruising Hester knew that his opportunity to stand out would come once the pace and physicality increased.

“Practice, you go through it and you really can’t make contact and make good runs,” Hester said. “You don’t know what to expect when you get out here. Once you get out here and get the pads on, you really get a chance to show what you can do.”

Another word to describe Cason is prepared. He credits his individual work in the film room for helping him make the big play on the slant.

“That came from film study,” Cason said. “I kind of went in there on my own and watched some film. I saw that formation on 3^rd-and-short. They had wide splits and he was wide so there wasn’t really too much he could do. I stayed patient and made the play.”

Both Cason and Hester showed a certain amount of poise in their Chargers debuts. Chargers safety Eric Weddle, who had an interception in his preseason debut a year ago, walked away impressed with Cason’s play.

“He did well,” Weddle said. “He showed up and played really well. He’s going to be a good player for us.”

But just like his coach, Weddle could have been talking about either of his team’s top two picks.

Lisa Blumenfeld, Getty Images North America

Running back Jacob Hester #22 celebrates after scoring a touchdown in the first half against the Dallas Cowboys during a pre-season game at Qualcomm Stadium on August 9, 2008 in San Diego, California.

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