The AFC West had already seen a defensive player picked earlier in the night when Kansas City selected Memphis defensive tackle Dontari Poe and San Diego decided to follow suit. With the 18th pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, the Chargers took South Carolina defensive end Melvin Ingram who many people had predicted to go earlier in the draft.
Ingram appears to be a great fit for the Chargers as he started his career at outside linebacker for the Gamecocks before being switched to defensive end. In San Diego it is expected that Ingram will be moved back to an outside linebacker position. He showed the ability in college to rush the quarterback, something the Chargers desperately need, as he had nine sacks in 2010 and 10 sacks last season.
The major red flag most mentioned when hearing scouting reports of Ingram though is he has short arms which make many people think he will have trouble getting off blocks in the NFL.
The Chargers last year had trouble getting off the field on defense and with Peyton Manning now joining the division it was obvious they felt they needed help in getting to the quarterback.
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