San Diego Chargers: Forrestal Hickman brings depth, size

ByKeith Demolder|

During this 2015 NFL Offseason, San Diego Chargers general manager Tom Telesco has spared no expense at improving a once enervated offensive line to now a potentially unbeatable offensive line.

This past Monday, the San Diego Chargers added yet another behemoth to their already stacked offensive line in the form of Missouri Science and Tech tackle Forrestal Hickman.

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At the moment, the Bolts have 15 offensive linemen on the roster, ranging from the six guards, one center, seven tackles and one general offensive lineman. That number of 15 will eventually be decimated to about 8 or 9 by the start of the season. But, as we’ve seen with the Chargers, injuries could mean that those six or seven guys cut from the team could potentially land a spot on the 53-man roster in 2015.

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One of those tackles that could land a spot on the roster if he shows himself in camp is the 6-7,” 320-pound Hickman who was invited to the Bengals camp earlier this year but is now officially signed with the Bolts.

According to Chargers.com editor Ricky Henne, “Hickman attended the Chargers’ rookie minicamp in May as a non-contract participant.A month later, he is now officially a member of the team as the Bolts signed the offensive tackle just in time for today’s start of mandatory minicamp.

The 6-7, 320-pound Hickman was a four year starter at left tackle for the Missouri S&T Miners. A three-time All-Great Lakes Valley Conference selection, he was named to the first team as a sophomore and senior.”

As stated above, Hickman at a monstrous 6-7 is a colossus and is one of the strongest rookie tackles to come out of a D-II school. That size and strength is nothing new for a San Diego Chargers roster with 6-9 King Dunlap and 6-7 Orlando Franklin.

According to Scout.com’s Marc Hardin, “the massive left tackle was Mel Kiper Jr.’s No. 19-rated offensive tackle in Kiper’s annual 2015 NFL Draft Prospects position-by-position analysis, so he is definitely an intriguing find who, like the rest of the undrafted players, faces an uphill climb.”

Considering that Mel Kiper (who isn’t necessarily the best source for draft prospects/predictions) endorsed this guy, I think there may be some potential here.

As it stands right now though, the starters (and second stringers) are projected to be LT King Dunlap, LG Orlando Franklin, C Chris Watt, RG Johnnie Troutman and RT D.J. Fluker with OT Joe Barksdale, OT Chris Hairston, C Trevor Robinson and OT Kenny Wiggins potentially making the roster. That leaves very little room, if any room at all for Hickman to try and earn a roster spot. What will probably end up happening is he will earn his spot on the practice squad or be cut from the team entirely.

Unfortunately some of the other linemen on the roster have the experience factor over Hickman, giving him a stark disadvantage. He does have one thing though: his health, his size and his youth. That could be the winning combination for Hickman to make the practice squad and earn a chance at the starting 53-man roster if someone gets injured during the 2015 which is bound to happen.

Even if there happen to be no injuries on the squad, then Hickman will still give the Chargers the depth that they have been looking for for a while now.

Whether his services are needed or not, the Bolts win either way. If there are no injuries, they’ve added some depth. If there are injuries and Hickman shows a lot of potential in training camp, there could be a potential roster spot waiting for him come later on in the season.

Next: San Diego Chargers Preseason Week Two Preview

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