Smith traded with Miami to move up to the No. 12 spot where he selected Mathews. In exchange, the Dolphins received the Chargers original first-round pick (No. 28) and the Bolts’ second-round pick (No. 40), which was recently acquired in a trade with the
Seattle Seahawks. While the Chargers gave up their second-round pick in the trade, they swapped picks with Miami in the fourth-round, moving up 16 spots to No. 110, while also securing Miami’s sixth-round pick (No. 173) and giving Smith a pick in a round in which he previously didn’t own one, as result of last year’s trade to acquire defensive tackle
Travis Johnson
from the
Houston Texans. And the final piece to the trade was the Chargers shipping fifth-year linebacker
Tim Dobbins to Miami.
Mathews is a player that Smith had coveted for some time.
“We think he’s a great football player,” said Smith. “He was a targeted guy that we’d looked at for a long time. We really had some concerns he’d make it down (to 28). We think he’s a championship level running back. The intangibles are fantastic, his character, his work ethic, he’s an all-around back. He can catch the ball, run the ball and he’s a very good blocker. Physical. We think he’s going to add a lot to our offensive package.”
Mathews played just three seasons at Fresno State, entering his name in the 2010 draft pool after a 1,808-yard season as a true junior in 2009. Despite missing a game and a half due to injury, his ’09 season rushing total was the third-highest in the history of the Western Athletic Conference and he led the nation with an average of 150.7 rushing yards per game. One of the two players to post a more prolific WAC season was LaDainian Tomlinson, so that gives an indication of the level of talent that Mathews possesses.
A native of Bakersfield, California, a few hours drive north of San Diego, Mathews was ecstatic when he received the call that the Chargers had traded up and selected him at No. 12.
“I went for a visit there and my favorite team was San Diego,” said an excited Mathews. “I love the weather, I’m a California guy, and I just prayed to the Lord to give me a chance to shine down there and it really opened up.”
Though he wasn’t the general manager at the time, Smith was the assistant GM when the Chargers pulled off a similar trade in 2001, making a move in the first round to secure a future franchise running back, who just happened to be Tomlinson. Though only time will tell if Mathews can deliver similar exploits, Smith believes Mathews has all the tools to be very successful in San Diego.
“I think he’s got championship-level talents,” explained Smith “And there’s no question that any time you’re going to come in and be a number-one back and a future Hall of Famer just left, everyone’s going to wonder what the comparisons are, but our thinking is simple. We need a back and we think we got a championship-level back. Now whatever he does in his NFL career, particularly his Charger career, is up to him. We’re all pretty excited to see what he’s all about.”
And Mathews, who is very familiar with the Chargers’ recent history did not appear daunted at all by the prospect of replacing the Chargers’ all-time leading rusher.
“I grew up really liking the Chargers,” professed Mathews. “LT, I always tried to model my running style after him and he’s a great man, he’s a really great man and he’s the best. He was a big game-changer and coming in there, I’m going to be a different running back than he was and those are going to be really big shoes to fill, but he wore a different shoe than everyone else so I’m going to have to bring my own shoes and try and make my own name.”
Mathews finished his career at Fresno State with 39 touchdowns and 3,280 yards rushing and it may have been a 2009 performance against Boise State that convinced him the NFL was in his future. Against the then No. 10 team in the nation, Mathews rushed for 234 yards and scored three touchdowns to earn WAC Player of the Week honors.
Mathews will arrive in San Diego this weekend when he meets the media for the first time.
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发表于 2010-4-23 20:18
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