Posted in News on April 5th, 2010 at 4:58 PM
By Marc DiFrancia
December 1, 2009
With the sixteenth pick of the 2009 NFL Draft, the San Diego
Chargers select DE Larry English from Northern Illinois; and that
statement is
where it all began. The former
Husky playing in his home state gets selected to play across the country
in
sunny San Diego what could go wrong with this picture? Well, considering
the
Chargers decided to give him a whole new position at OLB, English had
some work
to do and it seems he was up for the challenge.
English
had the pleasure of sitting back and learning from one of the best line
backers
in the game today, Shawne Merriman.
With Merriman being injured most of the year after his knee surgery,
English was thrown into the mix at the linebacker position with starting
LB
Shaun Phillips. According to
players and coaches on the team, they all see potential with English at
the
linebacker position and since Shawne Merriman is a free agent next year,
English could fill that void if Merriman was signed by another team.
Although,
English didnt record his first sack of the season till week four against
the
defending Super bowl champs the Pittsburgh Steelers, where English took
down
quarter back Big Ben, he is still way ahead of the learning curve. In
his first ten games in the NFL, English
has recorded 13 total tackles, including 11 solo tackles and 2 assisted,
and forced
one fumble. Impressive stats from
a rookie adjusting to a new position.
After
dismantling the Broncos and the Chiefs, the Chargers will Cleveland and
Dallas over
the following two weeks. The
Chargers front seven should feast on the rather weak offensive line in
Cleveland,
so expect English to have good performances against as he and the
Chargers head
into the Dallas game.
Although
English has been a pleasant surprise at linebacker it definitely took
the
Chargers defensive coaches a few games to realize that this guy is the
real
deal. If he can continue his development
and Shawne Merriman can stay healthy, the Chargers can have a very solid
line
backing core for years to come.
This editorial is exclusive
for CurvSports.com
in partnership with NovaFantasySports.com
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