Especially for a perennial contender, I think GMs, not hard to believe when you consider A.J.'s ego, overvalue their own prowess in making value out of the draft. Two high draft picks sound like a lot for a proven talent that still has three to five prime years left in their career but I think it overemphasizes what a crapshoot the draft is. While baseball is now run predominately by sabermatrician oriented young GMs with Ivy-League degrees, football is still run by the cigar-smoking old-timer schmoozers who get off looking at bubble-butts during the slave auction Combine. With rumors, seemingly debunked, that Marcus McNeil might be tendered by the Colts, I think Bill Polian might have been making a smart calculation about the true worth of draft skills.
While football is starting to move more in a research backed direction, football still allowed Matt Millen run an organization into the ground for nearly 10 years, still pays 1st round QBs that are more likely to bust than be Pro-Bowlers as much as their Bradys and Mannings (thereby hostagizing a franchise for at least 5 years), and perennially hypes up first round prima-donna receivers who take three years to develop if ever.
If we look at the Charger's recent 1st and 3rds: I'd rather have a proven Pro-Bowl, young talent in his prime like Marcus McNeil or Vincent Jackson (especially a receiver that is so high risk and long to develop) for any of these tandems:
In 2009, Larry English (16) and Louis Vasquez
In 2008, Antoine Cason and Jacob Hester
In 2007, Buster Davis and Anthony Waters
In 2006, Antonio Cromartie and Charlie Whitehurst (kind of ironic both traded this offseason.)
For the Colts,
2009 - Donald Brown and Jerrauld Powers
2008 - (no first) and Jacob Tamme
2007 - Anthony Gonzalez and Dante Hughes (who Chargers got for free as FA)
Even for a perennial top 5 pick team like the St. Louis Rams,
2009 - Jason Smith and Bradley Fletcher
2008 - Chris Long and John Greco
2007 - Adam Carriker and Jonathan Wade
BTW - Its looking more and more like Spiller and Matthews will be gone by 28 (if still there I think we should take Matthews) but we pick value at NT, OT or DB (Taylor Mays anyone?) and then grab Jonathan Dwyer (who I love and think is underrated with low mileage and breakaway speed) with 40.