Great. Another draft pick down the tubes for us.

yikes! The good thing: the Chargers aren''t desparate!

Ugghhh - never mind.

I''m not too worried AJ Smith has shown that he isn''t afraid to show draft picks agents who is in charge. Besides he can always just point to how well holding out worked for Phillip Rivers last year.

Truthfully i''d be surprised if Merrimen is anything more than a pass rushing specialist his first year. Ben Leber is great against the run and we have two players in Shaun Phillips and Dave Ball that were injured last year and looked promising as situational pass rushers.

From what I gather he''s just some agent who likes to have his players hold out for more money. Here is an interesting article on them:

http://www.patsfans.com/bob/display_story.php?story_id=2418

And here''s the Charger''s press release on the matter.

Okay, so what? You can give ME the best TE in the league and an offensive line composed entirely of rhinoceroses, and I would be a sh*tty NFL quarterback.

Brees had a renaissance because he changed his attitude and started playing well, not because some factors around him changed.

If you watched the Chargers in 2003 you could tell Gates was going to be great even in his rookie season, but the coaching staff limited his playtime and rotated him with a couple other tight ends. He still averaged 16.2 ypc and had some great catches.

I''m gonna agree with Neo here Brees down year in 2003 had more to do with a terrible pass protecting offensive line and horrible receivers. I think his performance was compounded when the coach benched him and Flutie came in and did his thing. When Brees came back it seemed like he was trying to do way too much a la Flutie and it got him in even more trouble. This year he had plenty of time to look the field over and we saw the results.

Feel free call people liars but that just makes you sound silly. There are certain players that are just so obvious its painful. Its easy for to set this equal to my favorite team. I knew TO was going to be great before he played his first Pro game. Pre-season is worth something you know....and the list of 49er players that I knew were gonna make or break has always been pretty straight forward. For those of us that actually follow ours teams closely it is pretty easy to evaluate talent and project. Sure some of it is just blind hope but thats true with any situation and any player.

As for Breeze, I''ve been telling people he was a great QB and a better choice then Vick since day one. I am not a Charger fan by any stretch either. He showed great poise and the needed tools in season 1, got creamed in season 2 because of the aformentioned line issues and when season 3 came around and the line was healthy and Gates was fully developed a more positive outcome was pretty forseeable. By the way I was praying the Chargers would dump him after his down year .....because he would be a perfect 49er.

I think maybe you guys are reading a bit more into my comments than was there. Oh I''m not saying I expected Gates to not improve. As a matter of fact, I drafted him in my fantasy league, and he helped me win the championship, thankyouverymuch. Though I did select Randy McMichael first, but McMichael spent the whole year on the bench thanks to Gates.

But there''s a HUGE step from expecting someone to become a good player, and expecting him to become the new model for the position he plays. Because that''s what Gates has become. And I was listening last season, and Chargers fans weren''t talking him up THAT much. Forecasted as top 10 TE? Sure. Forecasted as top 2? Nah.

I would enjoy seeing you generate a running list from here on out. I''ll either make fun of you for picking duds, or I''ll hire you to head up my scouting department when I become obscenely rich and buy a football team.

Well I think you''re looking too much into what I''m saying about Jones. At this point, I''m only *forecasting* him as a 3rd down receiver and potential red zone target. I''m excited at the potential, but you won''t see me saying ""this guy WILL become the next big thing"" for a while. And at the same time, part of what has facilitated Jones''s entry into the league is the success of Antonio Gates. Teams are starting to see the ball skills of a basketball player translates well to catching the football, and big men that can move in traffic and come down with the ball are valuable players.

I didn''t see ANYONE saying Antonio Gates was going to suddenly become the next Tony Gonzalez. Optimism, sure. Top 10 fantasy TE, sure. The next big thing? Again, I think maybe you guys are reading a bit more into my comments than was there.

Yeah, and Antonio Gates was so well scouted that he went undrafted.

GMs and scouts are coming on NFL Network and saying that they have started doing so much more so now, especially for consideration for higher picks. The Jags'' film study of Matt Jones includes basketball footage, and I''m sure they''re not the only ones.

One''s an anomaly. Two''s a pattern. Three''s a trend. No, Gates is not the first basketball player in the NFL. But he has quickly turned a fringe practice into a much more regular scouting practice. Gates went undrafted. Now, players like Gates are being though of as draftable players:

""With what Gates has done, more and more of us will look to the college basketball players to see if there are any potential draft picks,"" said an NFC scout

""The thought of investing a draft pick, signing bonus or even a training camp roster spot on a guy who hasn''t pulled on shoulder pads and a helmet since high school would have been absurd just a few years ago, but players such as San Diego Chargers tight end Antonio Gates have changed that.""

""The rise of Pro Bowl tight end Antonio Gates in San Diego has prompted other clubs to pursue alternative sources for players""