Sports News Southwest

San Diego, California - With five choices in the upcoming NFL Draft, including the 27th selection in the first round, San Diego Chargers General Manager A.J. Smith is looking forward to the opportunity to add talented players to the Chargers’ roster.

“The draft is one of the most exciting days for teams and their fans throughout the entire NFL, especially right here in San Diego,” said Smith. “Championship teams are built through the draft. We’ve been very fortunate to make some good choices in our recent drafts and we hope to find even more good players this year. There are a lot of talented players in this year’s class. We’re doing everything we can to bring in the best possible players that can help us win a championship.”

The NFL has made slight changes to the draft format this year.  The draft will begin at 12 noon PT with Rounds 1-2 on Saturday, April 26 and conclude with Rounds 3-7 on Sunday, April 27 starting at 7 a.m. PT. Also new for 2008 is the time allotment that team’s will have to make their selections. Each team will have 10 minutes to make their picks in the first round, seven minutes in the second round and five minutes to make their choices in Rounds 3-7.

Currently the Chargers have five picks in this year’s draft with one pick in the first round, two in the fifth round, including a compensatory selection, and one each in the sixth and seventh rounds. The Chargers traded this year’s second round choice to Miami in exchange for wide receiver Chris Chambers; their third round choice to Chicago to select safety Eric Weddle, and they exercised their fourth round choice in last year’s NFL Supplemental Draft to select defensive back Paul Oliver.

This year will mark the sixth draft that Smith will oversee as general manager of the Chargers. Last year the Chargers chose LSU wide receiver Buster Davis with their first pick. Davis played in 14 games as a rookie, catching 20 passes for 188 yards and a touchdown. Two years ago, Smith made one of his savviest draft selections, grabbing Antonio Cromartie from Florida State in the first round. With a year under his belt, Cromartie broke out in 2007, leading the NFL with a team-record 10 picks on his way to a Pro Bowl selection. Four of the Chargers eight draft picks from ’07 ended up seeing significant playing time last season, including Davis, Weddle, wide receiver Legedu Naanee and linebacker and special teams standout Brandon Siler.

Smith’s previous top draft-day moves include the notable selections of three-time Pro Bowl linebacker Shawne Merriman and defensive end Luis Castillo, along with the blockbuster trade he engineered with the New York Giants in 2004 to secure the services of starting quarterback Philip Rivers. Twenty-five of the current 60 players on the Chargers roster were drafted by Smith.

Following are the Chargers’ five picks in the 2008 draft:

Round 1 (27th overall)

Round 5 (160th overall)

Round 5 (166th overall) – Compensatory Selection

Round 6 (192nd overall)

Round 7 (234th overall)

Fans interested in watching the 2008 selection proceedings can attend the fifth-annual NFL Draft Party at the San Diego Hall of Champions in Balboa Park. Doors will open at 9 a.m. Parking and admission are free, however fans can reserve individual seats for $15 or a table of 10 for $150. Food and beverages will be available for purchase and there will be an opportunity drawing for fans to win some great prizes. For more information or to reserve a seat, fans can call (619) 699-2309

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