With the 18th Pick in the 2011 Dawgs By Nature Mock Draft, the San Diego Chargers Select...

With the 18th pick in the 2011 Dawgs By Nature Community Mock Draft, the San Diego Chargers select...

Akeem Ayers, OLB, UCLA

This selection and write-up was made by Adrock2099:

I'm not going to lie, I signed up to pick for the Chargers without having any clue as to what their needs are going into this year's draft. After looking around Bolts From the Blue and various interwebs mock drafts, it's apparent that they're looking to upgrade their front seven, and the best player to do that at this point in our draft is Akeem Ayers.

Since Shawne Merriman is no longer on the team (and both of the DE's that I wanted to pick were snatched from me at the last second), I figured they could use some help at the linebacker position. He was big enough in college to power through opposing linemen and get to the quarterback, and also has enough of a motor to chase people down and make tackles. Apparently he had a poor showing in the 40 at the combine, but if everyone drafted based on 40 times we'd all be the Raiders.

It's too bad there isn't a special teams difference-maker the Chargers can take, because that was their biggest need last season. This team still has the tools to be a top seed in the AFC next year thanks to how good Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates are together.

The New York Giants are on the clock next (email has been sent to Red-Right-88).