San Diego Chargers Select Melvin Ingram, DE/OLB, South Carolina Live 2012 NFL Draft Grade

With the 18th pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, the San Diego Chargers have selected Melvin Ingram, DE/OLB, South Carolina.

Here is our report on Ingram:

Pros:

Very productive and versatile at South Carolina…can drop back into coverage very well for a defensive linemen…plays with a good pad level and has a nice repertoire of pass rushing moves which helps him overcome his average explosion off his snap…disengages well to get to the ball carrier…good pursuit…good motor…good athletic ability…often showed up big in big games and in 2011

Cons:

Does not have great size to play defensive tackle (276 pounds) and a little short for defensive end (6’2), but makes up with a little bit of that because of his long arms and playing style…not particularly explosive off the snap perse, but athletic…tweener prospect with short arms

Player comparison: Karl Klung, DT, Tennessee Titans

I’m going to take this from Dan Kadar of mocking the draft because I can’t think of one better, and also direct you to an excellent play by play breakdown he did of Ingram’s absolutely brilliant performance vs Auburn.

Thoughts

He’s a bit of a tweenter who has good athleticism and he might even be able to play 34 OLB in some systems if a team is willing to coach him up to it, if not he’s going to be a rotational guy. It’ll be interesting to see if he gets any look at the 34 OLB because his arms are too short to play DE in most systems and he’s too small for defensive tackle. He’s a football player so he’ll be drafted high, but more questions than people think about where he fits. 34 OLB is likely his spot in the N.F.L

NFLmocks preseason bio

A bit of a tweener who is versatile enough to play defensive end and kick inside to play tackle on passing downs. With the arrival of top ranked recruit JaDaveon Clowney, he could move inside permanently this season. Last year, he really broke out as a pass rusher, with nine sacks on the season to go along with 11 more tackles for loss. His production came when he wasn’t even a starting defensive end, so we’ll see how productive he can be when given the chance to be an every down starter for the Gamecocks. Converted linebacker who has solid athletic ability, and one of the top performers on a very, very talented South Carolina front seven.

Live Draft Grade: A

The Chargers’ goal in the first round was to upgrade their pass rush, and that happened with this pick. Melvin Ingram has no business being on the board here, and the Chargers got a gem. I think his versatility will be very effective at the NFL level. Really like this pick for the Chargers.