San Diego Chargers select CB Jason Verrett in first round of 2014 NFL Draft

With so much of the media's attention focused on Johnny Manziel's drop to the late first round of the 2014 NFL Draft, an overlooked aspect of Day One was the high number of defensive backs selected.  The San Diego Chargers fell in line with that trend, selecting former Texas Christian University cornerback Jason Verrett with their first round selection and the 25th pick overall.

Playing in the AFC West and facing Peyton Manning twice a year, requires a defense to have quality play in its secondary. As such, the Chargers feel they have filled a position of need with this pick.

“We’re really pleased to add Jason to the Chargers,” said Chargers General Manager Tom Telesco. “When we went into this process, getting ready for the draft, the things we wanted to add to this team was speed and playmakers and really wanted to help the defense if we could, and we think Jason is going to fit that to a T. Jason is an excellent cover corner. Explosively quick and fast and tough. Those are the qualities we look for, and maybe the most important thing is that he’s very, very instinctive on the football field. To me, if you can find corners with that combination of speed, toughness and instincts, those are the guys we want playing for us.”

A 5-9, 178-pound native of Fairfield in Northern California, Verrett was a highly-decorated three-year starter at TCU. As a senior in 2013, he was the Big 12 Conference’s co-Defensive Player of the Year, a consensus second-team All-America and a first-team All-Big 12 pick. One of the nation’s top cover cornerbacks, opposing quarterbacks rarely challenged Verrett during his senior season at TCU as only 52 passes were thrown in his direction and only 17 were completed. As a result, he finished the year with 39 tackles, 14 passes defensed and a pair of interceptions.

Verrett enjoyed the best statistical season of his career after starting 13 of 13 games as a junior in 2012. His accolades included first-team All-Big 12 honors, along with first-team All-America honors from Sports Illustrated and third-team honors from the Associated Press. Verrett’s totals for his junior season included 63 tackles, six interceptions, and 16 passes defensed, all career highs.

Verrett was a sports broadcasting major at TCU. He is the fourth former TCU Horned Frog drafted by the Chargers in team history and the first since 2001 when the Chargers drafted some guy named LaDainian Tomlinson in the first round with the fifth overall selection.

By Staff of TheDailySportsHerald.com and news services