After shoring up the defensive line to open the draft by selecting Joey Bosa, the San Diego Chargers turned their attention to the offense on Friday.
The Bolts added the consensus top tight end available in Hunter Henry with the 35th overall pick, then closed out the day by selecting center Max Tuerk early in the third with the 66th selection.
Addressing the media, General Manager Tom Telesco and Head Coach Mike McCoy made it clear both were players the team targeted heading into the day.
"We're excited," McCoy said. "It went exactly how we wanted it to go, to be honest. When we look at things, and going after Hunter early, we wanted to get Max later like we did. So it's been perfect so far."
When it comes to Henry, the Chargers managed to snare a player they had a first round grade on at the top of the second.
"For us, he was a first round talent," Telesco said. "He comes from a pro-style offense at Arkansas so he played on the line of scrimmage, was asked to block and he does it pretty well. He's very athletic with his feet, he's competitive and tough…. Great hands. Knock on wood, he didn't drop a ball his senior year and they used him a lot. A lot of targets thrown his way and he was their go-to guy on third down."
It's no secret the Bolts were looking to add a tight end through the draft. As luck would have it, the top player on their board to begin the day aligned with a position of need.
"The tight end one worked out really well," Telesco continued. "For us, he was the best tight end in the draft so it was key for us in a position we needed to add somebody in, no doubt. To have somebody on the other side of Antonio (Gates) was important."
Meanwhile, the Chargers were able to grab a player in Tuerk that ESPN projected a first round pick a year ago. However, the USC center suffered an ACL injury that caused his stock to tumble, and the Bolts feel fortunate to get him where they did.
"The three things that stand out with him (are) his length, his football intelligence and he's a two-year captain at USC," Telesco said. "He loves the game of football (and) prepares well. Just a very smart football player. His athletic ability and his feet, he can pull (and) can reach people with his quickness. He can get out to the second level really, really well. You haven't seen many centers like him recently who can move like he does. And he can leverage on people. For a taller center, he can get his pads down and play with some strength, too. He's a really productive player at USC and has great intangibles, which you need at the center position."
Perhaps most important, the Chargers do not feel his injury is cause for future concern.
"The knee is coming along well," Telesco said. "Still rehabbing obviously, but our doctors feel really good about where it is right now. We feel great about the long-term prognosis but he still has some rehab to do. Once we get him here and get our hands on him every day, we'll have a better determination of when his start date will be. But when he's ready to go, he'll certainly be competing for the (starting center) spot."
