Article: Charger rookie shines at left takle with broken hands

[Angus]

Rookie McNeill has shined at left tackle despite breaks

By: JAY PARIS - Staff Writer

SAN DIEGO ---- The Chargers' brass didn't know what to expect. Here was a first-year starter being thrown into a critical offensive position, and the Chargers could only cross their fingers, hoping it would work.

Quarterback Philip Rivers? Nope.

Left tackle Marcus McNeill.

"He is going to be a great player,'' LaDainian Tomlinson predicted.

While the headlines and microphones have descended and dissected Rivers' foray into a starting job, not much racket has ricocheted around McNeill's locker.

Like baseball umpires, if offensive linemen aren't being noticed, that translates into only one thing.

"That means he has been playing darn good,'' Tomlinson said.

McNeill slides into San Francisco on Sunday, returning to a venue where he made his first NFL start. It came in the Chargers' final preseason game, as the finality of not having incumbent Roman Oben and wanna-be replacement Leander Jordan ---- both lost to injury ---- was setting like the fog that swallows Candlestick Point.

The Chargers had big hopes for their versatile offense, and much would hinge on McNeill, the big man from Auburn.

"The thing that has enabled him to do as well as he has done is he is extremely bright and he understands football,'' coach Marty Schottenheimer said. "When you tell him something he gets it, he is able to pick it up and apply it down the road.''

The course to the first team hasn't been all pancake blocks. McNeill will take not one, but two recently broken hands into battle against the 49ers. After breaking his left one this summer, he fractured the opposite one during the Steelers' game.

McNeill just shrugs the massive shoulders that highlight his 6-foot-7, 336-pound frame. Nothing fazes this mountain of a man, someone who's as quick to smile as he is on his feet.

"That's got to be a record,'' McNeill said of two broken hands before the season's fifth game. "I'm going to have to get me a good glass of milk.''

Maybe that would build stronger bones. If nothing else, Rivers doesn't have to mimic those milk ads and ask, "Got Protection?"

"From his first day of practice here until now it is amazing how much he has improved,'' said Rivers, who trusts his blindside to McNeill. "It may just have been him getting comfortable. But in our eyes, it is amazing what he has done.''

And who he's done it against. When your resume reveals you stood tall against the Ravens' Terrell Suggs and the Steelers' confusing blitz package, which includes Joey Porter, taking a bow isn't out of the question.

"He was blocking Porter all by himself,'' Rivers stressed.

Added Tomlinson: "He's not overwhelmed by anything. We were getting ready to play Baltimore and I would expect him to be (nervous) because he was going against Suggs. He said, 'Suggs, let's go.' "

McNeill has let go of those scrapbook moments. He realizes if his head is in the past, the notion of Rivers at quarterback could be in the past tense as well.

"I'm worried about 49ers right now,'' said McNeill, a second-round pick. "It was a great win for us (against the Steelers) and it helped our momentum. But right now the focus is on 49ers.''

Regardless of the foe, McNeill never carries a big-eye look. The "Big Easy" moniker applies here.

"He is so laid-back,'' Rivers said. "He won't be a guy playing in his fifth game that is wired out there. He is relaxed.''

Even when asked to do more, he delivers.

"I'll say, 'I got a little pump in this play so I need a little time,'" Rivers said. "And he's says, 'I got you.' "

The Chargers got a keeper in McNeill. While Oben (injured foot) is eligible to return after the 49ers game, McNeill has been the McMan.

"The big thing I can't do is put added pressure on myself,'' McNeill said. "I already have enough pressure with rushers coming from every angle. I just look at it like my team has confidence in me and that is the biggest thing for me. Trying to show my teammates, week in and week out, that I belong here.''

For years to come.

"He is a smart player,'' Tomlinson said, "and he wants to be good.''

Good to the last quarterback drop.

CHARGERS NOTES ---- S Bhawoh Jue (knee) was the only player missing a portion of Thursday's practice. Jue isn't expected to be ready to play until the Chiefs game on Oct. 22. ... LT Roman Oben (foot) said he plans on practicing next week when eligible to come off the physically unable to perform list. ... After blowing his stack following Wednesday's shoddy workout, coach Marty Schottenheimer was upbeat with Thursday's effort. ... Among the free agents receiving try outs this week was WR Peter Warrick, the Bengals' first-round pick (fourth overall) in 2000.Others getting a look were WR Eddie Berlin and DBs Keion Carpenter, Deke Cooper, Quentin Harris and Michael Stone.

Contact staff writer Jay Paris at jparis8@aol.com.

Top tackles


Chargers rookie left tackle Marcus McNeill is off to a strong start this season. Maybe someday hel will be on this list of the NFL's five top tackles:

Player&nbspTeam&nbspComment

1. Walter Jones&nbspSeahawks&nbspThe next bad angle he takes might be his first.

2. Jonathan Ogden&nbspRavens&nbspHas a burst off the ball that makes defensive ends jealous.

3. Orlando Pace&nbspRams&nbspWith his long arms and quick feet, good luck getting around the edge.

4. Levi Jones&nbspBengals&nbspThey still talk of him shutting down the Colts' Dwight Freeney last year.

5. Tarik Glenn&nbspColts&nbspWhy do you think Peyton Manning has so much time to throw

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/10/13/sports/professional/chargers/21_49_4210_12_06.txt

 

[ManicDepressiveMan]

Fasano over McNeill.

Another swing and a miss for this team on draft day.

 

[tomson75]

Fasano over McNeill.

Another swing and a miss for this team on draft day.

How is this a miss? Fasano is doing just fine.

 

[ManicDepressiveMan]

How is this a miss? Fasano is doing just fine.

Because an OT should have been a much higher priority than a 2nd TE.

 

[JPostSam]

Fasano over McNeill.

Another swing and a miss for this team on draft day.

i agree IN PRINCIPLE -- because dallas SHOULD have taken a good o-line prospect early on draft day. mcneill was a guy who, i thought, dallas should look at.

...while we're at it, i also hoped we could get wr greg jennings, maybe in the thrid or fourth round. the problem with both those players is that they were selected BEFORE dallas's turn to pick in the second round.

so this is not a simple issue of, "look who we passed on." it is instead an issue of, "should we have tried to move up in the draft, on the ASSUMPTION that someone else MIGHT take this player before us -- and if so, at what cost?"

i didn't like the fasano pick either -- even if it had to be a tight end, i would have preferred leonard pope, who is freaking huge -- but what would you suggest instead? if you wanted mcneill, would you have moved up to get him? or, with him off the board, would you have chosen a player like eric winston?

 

[joseephuss]

i agree IN PRINCIPLE -- because dallas SHOULD have taken a good o-line prospect early on draft day. mcneill was a guy who, i thought, dallas should look at.

...while we're at it, i also hoped we could get wr greg jennings, maybe in the thrid or fourth round. the problem with both those players is that they were selected BEFORE dallas's turn to pick in the second round.

so this is not a simple issue of, "look who we passed on." it is instead an issue of, "should we have tried to move up in the draft, on the ASSUMPTION that someone else MIGHT take this player before us -- and if so, at what cost?"

i didn't like the fasano pick either -- even if it had to be a tight end, i would have preferred leonard pope, who is freaking huge -- but what would you suggest instead? if you wanted mcneill, would you have moved up to get him? or, with him off the board, would you have chosen a player like eric winston?

Trade down from their spot in the 1st and grab McNeil. Maybe they tried to trade down and grab him or anyone else on their board, but we can't assume that a trade was possilble. Perhaps other teams weren't interested. I would have liked McNeil as a Cowboy, but he is not. Hopefully the players Dallas got become solid contributors for a long time.

 

[tomson75]

Because an OT should have been a much higher priority than a 2nd TE.

OL was adressed in FA. We needed a TE to go to Parcell's 2 TE set. How is this hard to understand. It's been discussed ad nauseam.

Regardless, even if we should have taken an O-lineman first, the Fasano pick is still not a "swing and a miss" as you have so cleverly stated.