Defensive tackle Brandon Mebane was the longest tenured member of the Seattle Seahawks prior to signing with the San Diego Chargers this offseason. Mebane was a third-round pick by Seattle in 2007 and spent the first nine seasons of his career in a Seahawks’ uniform.
Now in San Diego, Mebane seems particularly bullish on the potential of the Chargers defense. He believes it’s capable of rivaling that of his former team.
“There is so much talent on this team, it’s unreal,” Mebane said, via Eric Williams of ESPN.com. “I was telling guys there is more talent on this defense than there was in Seattle. If you look at the draft, you’ve got four first-round draft picks and you have five second-round draft picks all on defense.
“In Seattle, you only had two first-rounders and one second-rounder. Everybody else was pretty much down in the draft, or wasn’t drafted. So if we put it together, play together, and work on our skill, I think the sky’s the limit for this defense. It’s amazing, the skill and the talent level is there. All we’ve got to do is just believe in each other and play together.”
The Chargers certainly have expended significant draft capital on the defensive side of the football. Jason Verrett, Melvin Ingram, Corey Liuget, Brandon Flowers, Jeremiah Attaochu, Manti Te’o, Casey Heyward and Denzel Perryman were all selected in the first two rounds of the draft. The Chargers used the No.3 overall pick last month to add Joey Bosa to the unit as well.
However, draft slots don’t specifically equate to production. Just because those players were selected in the first 64 picks of the draft doesn’t mean they’ll be Pro Bowlers or cogs in a productive defense. The Chargers ranked just 20th in team defense in 2015.
The Chargers should be better on defense with their additions this offseason. Whether they can rival Seattle’s defense – who has led the league in scoring defense in four straight seasons – may be a bit overzealous. But there’s nothing wrong with a little optimism for your new team.